The beauty of opposites is that as they get further apart, their relative extremity brings them back together.  The PB&J of sneakers, these Nike Vandal High VNTG Supremes from the new Neon Pack are perfect compliments.  Both of them achieve the vintage look thanks to a pre-yellowed sole and upper, plus the colour choices and fabrics are totally ’80s.  One pair goes for the highlighter look in electric green with black and grey accents, while a grey pair flips that script and adds bright pink and orange hits.  Both pairs of these are available now from select Nike Sportswear retailers like Schuh-You.

adidas Originals already hit us off with its deluxe Superstars for the 2010 NBA All Star weekend, but what about Three Stripes’ performance kicks?  The adidas TS Supernatural collection is their flagship series, so it’s only natural to see the TS Supernatural Commander & Creator in ASG palettes.

Perhaps a sense of curiosity and desire to peek into other people’s lives is ingrained in the human mindset, and this has probably in turn fueled the rise of reality television over the past decade and more. The quality of television programming have been in many’s opinion, gone fast downhill, thriving constantly on presupposed hype and artificial drama, therefore delivering controversial, trashy programs such as MTV’s latest Jersey Shore. Amidst sensory overload from television and light-speed user generated content, news and everything in between and beyond, few projects actually stand out, and even fewer have the quality to back up its popularity.

In comes Levi Maestro, the mastermind behind online series, Maestro Knows. With a determination to return to his roots of simple, honest filming and a desire to connect with inspiring friends and sharing their stories on the internet, Maestro has come a long way since Maestro Knows started a year ago, and even released an extremely well-received collaborative tee with 13th Wonder. The success and credibility Maestro enjoys today is largely due to a refreshingly honest take on people and the world around him, sharing candid conversations only friends who truly trust and understand each other can have. Some of the subjects Maestro Knows have profiled include renowned music producer 9th Wonder, tattoo doyen Mister Cartoon and burgeoning BMX whiz Nigel Sylvester.

Freshness was excited to get a word in with Maestro, chatting about everything under the sun from his work, to kicks, music and great cities to live in. Check out our freshly released feature and get to know the man who behind the awe-inspiring videos of key and newly prominent additions in the industry.

> Freshness Feature – Refreshing Authenticity: A Conversation With Levi Maestro Of Maestro Knows

YES Snowboards has teamed up with premium acoustic provider, Aerial7 to deliver their first collaboration – headphones. Although they produce different products altogether, the two companies essentially deliver the same result – art and soul to a saturated and dismal martketplace.

The use of technology has enabled the Red Cross, along with telecommunication companies, in generating over $10 million in relief efforts with extremely creative fund raising ideas. UNCOMMON has joined the relief effort as well, also collaborating with telecommunication companies, albeit peripherally, with their Haiti Relief Collection.

In 2008, Shaun White debuted his clothing line, entitled Shaun White 4 Target, for boys and young men.   New styles from the collection, carefully designed by Shaun and his brother Jesse, along with Target, is available in stores right now.  The new collection ranges from basic closet staples like solid colored V-necks to understated plaid button downs to playfully patterned zip-up hoodies and tees.

In honor of Shaun White’s pursuit of back-to-back gold medals in the Men’s half-pipe event at this year’s Winter Olympics, Target has dedicated nine billboard panels of monumental proportions in Times Square.  Located in the heart of New York City, the nine panels wrap around 7th and 8th Avenues connecting at 42nd street.

It is a common error, and in many ways quite unfortunate, to mistake simple arrogance with a more substantive character, confidence. There is no need of a logo emblazoned appearance or a pre-arranged marketing ploy. It is, instead, part learned behavior and part natural-born ability. To narrow it down, confidence, is a state of being, a finite formula of daring, personality, talent, and belief that exudes from a person. Yet it is a concept more easily grasped when defined visually, something the New York City-base apparel label Public School achieved since its founding 2 years ago. Freshness recently sat down with Co-Founders Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne and asked them to give us a brief introduction to the brand.

> Freshness Feature: A Study Of Confidence – Public School

Dubbed one of history’s greatest threesomes by Complex, the HTM line from Nike is back. HTM for those of you who are scratching your heads is made up of three of today’s most influential and recognized figureheads. H, is for Hiroshi Fujiwara whose fragment design has become synonomous with high quality collaboration products ranging from denim to sneakers. T, represents Tinker Hatfield, the man behind a number of classic Nike sneakers as well as the majority of the Air Jordan signature line. And lastly, M, is for Mark Smith, longtime Nike’s Creative Director of Special Projects.

In addition to the Footscape Free Motion, Hiroshi previewed this entirely new Nike HTM 2 during the Greater China Media Summit, which from what Hiroshi says, is still a working name. The HTM 2 will be the first of many new shoes released under the Nike HTM line in the coming months. Hiroshi Fujiwara gave us a look at his colorway of this futuristic looking sneaker that features Nike Free 7.0 along with a no-lace upper. The Nike HTM 2 is scheduled for a tentative release later this year in a few different colorways including one done by Mark Smith and another by Tinker Hatfield.

RSVP Gallery in Chicago has been open for a few months now and the buzz around the art gallery/luxury boutique has been phenomenal. We recently caught up with two of the three partners of the space, Marc Moran and Virgil Abloh, to get a better idea of what RSVP Gallery is all about. In our conversatin with Marc and Virgil everything abut RSVP Gallery is covered from the brands it carries to the various upcoming projects we can expect to see come out of the RSVP Gallery. Additionally you can get a closer look at various products that are currently stocked at RSVP Gallery including Kaikai Kiki plushies as well as Lupe Fiasco’s Trilly & Truly apparel collection.

> Freshness Feature: The Art of Consumption – RSVP GALLERY ®

We showed you an example of the new versions of the Nike Footscape Freemotion earlier in the month which upgrade the design of the sneaker while maintaining the sleek, asymmetrical look of the sneaker. Freshness got a chance to speak to Hiroshi Fujiwara during the Greater China Media Summit, and he showed us a sample of the reworked sneaker, called the Nike Air Footscape Motion. The motion in the title is likely due to the freesole, which allows for increased flexibility and responsiveness. The flywire included in the upper increases the support and torque control needed in a responsive running shoe.

The two fragment design models feature their logo on the tongue and heel pull tabs, and two distinct colorways. One features a tonal blue on blue upper that also uses a bit of sheen to suggests some gradation. The same approach is used in the purple colorway, as a white sole, tongue, and lining provide a contrast. Look for limited releases in Asia and America in the future.

After four long years of waiting, anticipation and attempts to quell soccer fevers with various league games, FIFA World Cup is finally back for 2010, surprisingly for sports fans, with much for the Americans to celebrate this time around. As the excitement for World Cup gets increasing palpable, it makes perfect sense for Nike to headline the footie for Spring/Summer 2010. New technical materials and construction such as the Torch (a lightweight and breathable innovation which can be easily manipulate into new shapes and forms for maximum comfort, and is the highlight of the new Nike LunarLite Rejuven8 Mid sneaker) are worked into soccer-minded roster of items for the upcoming season. In terms of style and function design, the focal point of Spring/Summer 2010 spotlights on soccer players and fans alike.

With soccer on our minds, Freshness attended Nike Sportswear’s Spring/Summer 2010 Greater China Media Summit and got the first peek into what’s coming up after all the end-of-year festivities. The summit was held at Hong Kong’s Cattle Deport Artist Village, which as its name suggests, was once a cattle slaughter house and now turned into a congregation of artist studios, galleries and creative spaces. Attendees included media from the greater China region (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan), and all were not only invited to the Spring/Summer 2010 presentation but also to visit the AW77 – This Is My Hood Exhibition at Creative Space.