KSPACE.TV » Product

UNDERWATER SOUNDS

Jez Smadja — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:00:58 +0000

We all know about music for running, and the importance of a good soundtrack to allay the soul-crushing boredom – I know a few people won’t even go to the gym if their iPod is out of battery… but swimming to music? Now there’s a whole new kettle of fish.

Although I’d heard about waterproof music players, it wasn’t till last week at my local pool that I actually saw one, a discreet little player affixed to a bather’s swim cap, and two little earbuds on a short wire, like the tendrils of a young snow pea. Now far be it for me to imitate my fellow swimmers in aquatic fashions, but this little invention truly piqued my interest and sent me in a frantic search through the interwebs for the gadget.

While there are several waterproof MP3 players on the market, two in particular have risen to the top. First up is the uCan from Ubanana. With its yellow and black colour scheme, this product is reminiscent of the Sony Sports Walkman range back when Sony used to run tings. The uCan headset wraps around your ears and neck, and has two earbuds dangling off the sides of the unit. The music player is integrated into the unit. It’s waterproof to a depth of 3m, but because of its simple design, it’s also aimed at runners and cyclists. With a 2GB memory and a price tag of around $145 (£89), you can’t go wrong with the uCan, can you?

Well Speedo, the Sheffield-based swimwear brand, seem to think so, and insist that their Aquabeat can’t be beat. While the name is a bit naff (the word Aqua conjures up, in my mind at least, images of that godawful Scandinavian europop outfit) the product seems to be well designed for its purpose. The player clips on to your goggles and the sound it delivers is crystal clear. Some users find that after a few lengths, water can seep in past the earbud and interrupt the mellifluous experience but others wouldn’t be seen dead in the pool without their Aquabeat. With a 1GB player starting at around $85 (£55), it’s quite reasonable too.  To give you an idea of what swimming with music might be like, check the video for Smoke City’s ‘Underwater Love’.

Click here to view the embedded video.

New Style Classic: The 3DD Aviator

Matt Diehl — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:00:09 +0000

As Hollywood teeters on the inexorable slide towards putting out EVERY SINGLE FREAKIN’ MOVIE in 3-D, style hangs in the balance. Watching 3-D movies is the ultimate exercise in conformity, man: everyone looks the same, because everyone is forced to wear the same 3-D glasses.

Until now…

Meet “the official 3DD aviator.” Yes, that’s right—3-D glasses styled in the uber-classic aviator-style frame. As in, yes, when everyone else around you is wearing conventional 3-D glasses, you, in fact, are sporting specs you might actually wear in public. In fact, that’s not a bad idea! These particular 3D aviators were actually developed in conjunction with a book called 3DD: A 3-D Celebration of Breasts, a compilation of iconic cleavage images in three dimensions from New York photographer Henry Hargreaves. However he came up with the concept, it’s a relief that finally one can find a pair of 3-D glasses that look good even outside a darkened movie theater…

Jack Spade & K-Swiss: Take Ivy

andrew flanagan — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:37:20 +0000

A revisitation of prep seems in the air. Prep is most easily defined as the clothes handsome Ivy league boys and girls wore between 1950 and 1989, sweater vests and boating shoes, slacks and piqué. Vanity Fair recently covered the relaunch of The Official Preppy Handbook, a manual from 1980 repurposed into True Prep, both a send-up and a manual of sorts for those interested in learning the many (many) rules that go along with this very specific subculture (aboveculture?).

Is that tradition Jack Spade and K-Swiss have announced a similar, but more straightforward – likely less aggravating – collaboration surrounding the first reprinting of Take Ivy, a book of photography featuring shots of sharply-dressed bourgeoisie during the 1960s. K-Swiss and Jack Spade’s contribution to the relaunch is a heavy-grade sweatshirt with silkscreened elbow patches, and a pretty sharp belt, both meant to update the styles featured in the book.

The package will be available August 31st only at Jack Spade retail.

Kenny Powers

andrew flanagan — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:00:39 +0000

K-motherfucking-swiss! The parent company got innovative on Monday, debuting a promotional campaign starring baseball legend and fictional dickhead Kenny Powers to push their new Tubes shoe, the titular feature being some powerful amalgamation of moon boots and gummy worms that serves the same general function as Shape Ups without being hideous or overpriced. Oh, and push he does; Kenny loves the Tubes! And people love Kenny. And so does the newly renamed K-Powers shoe company, as he seems poised to “sell some fuckin’ shoes” for ‘em.

In the video below Mr. Powers: takes on the suits with his encyclopedic knowledge of the game and summarily blows their minds, calls seasoned MMA fighter Urijah Faber a siss for jumping rope, stares down tight end Jeremy Shockey, and explains the physiology underpinning Secret Muscle Theory:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Neil Barrett for Palladium Boots

tcroberts — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:59:56 +0000

We knew our friends at Palladium had it going on, but we didn’t know they were rocking runways… as in fashion runways. Seems that in their arsenal of canvas and rubber boots, a storied French history and hip kids, Palladium has been holding their secret weapon for next fall’s style avalanche. Seems that Neil Barrett, the famed menswear designer has collaborated with Palladium to create a leather version of the classic boot. He even put them on his models for the shows a few weeks back and promised some different colorways as well as waxed and patent leather. GQ got the scoop, which probably means very good things for our friends, and for you if you like to hear what’s next and especially if you wanna have a chance to grab a pair — or maybe even get in a free pair. Watch this space.

New K-Swiss Kicks: Surf & Sand High

tcroberts — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:15:50 +0000

You’ve peeped the low-tops, but as to not exclude the ladies from the high-top mix, K-Swiss is dropping a few new colorways of its Surf & Sand high top. There is an all black upper, and four Spring colorways will catch much attention going into Easter in yellow, pink, green and lavender. No holding back, these will rock hard, especially broken in with a few new scuffs while skating to the park or the beach — or just rocking the boulevard. The gold and white accents are what send these over the top, as all girls love a little bling.

via Kicks on Fire

K-Swiss Limited Edition Classic High P / WIN a pair

tcroberts — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:30:15 +0000

High tops for the holidays! K-Swiss does a limited release on a Classic, with a twist (0r two) — a high top in fall colors. My favorite is this pair of true blood red kicks in patent leather. No pun intended: they are pretty killer. It’s not often that you see an old style redone like this, but it looks like the California style may be taking some cold-weather cues. (Interesting note: K-Swiss shoes were originally high top boots modified years ago to be tennis shoes.) There’s also the colorway above, bronze upper with a white sole that according to the fashion blogs are so very now.

Seeing as though the Classic white high tops aren’t being released until 2010, grab a pair of these while you can or test out your luck and enter to WIN a Limited Edition pair of your own by telling us 1 person or thing that represents true classic style to you.

Headphones for the Heads

Matt Diehl — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:32:24 +0000

You can use headphones to listen to illegally downloaded music, but you can’t download headphones. Therefore, it’s no wonder that music stars are putting their name on artist-branded headphones! Dr. Dre started the trend with his “Beats” model, which has exploded into a full-on product line. Now, everyone’s in on the act – even Lady Gaga, whose “Heartbeats” put a spiky, arty, weird fashion twist on your typical earbuds. You can also get Snoop Dogg customized buds from pop-culture-bandwagon-jumping brand Skullcandy, who’ve also done similar editions for the likes of Metallica and Slightly Stoopid.

Personally, our favorite from this trend are these crazy, raveadelic examples of ear candy from legendary DJ Stretch Armstrong. However, style only goes so far: they are headphones, so they better sound good – at least as good as the music from the artist who put his or her name on ‘em! To that end, the high end of Dr. Dre’s “Beats” series are incredible to listen to– per the man who reinvented hip-hop production, the bass is superfat. But while the Lady Gaga buds look, like her, freakishly chic, audio-wise they haven’t gotten the best reviews. So even if you’re a fan, make sure you test out artist-branded headphones before you buy: it’s always a good idea to determine if they are, in fact, as good sonically as the performers are musically, or if the name on the label is just phoning it in…

K-Swiss Tubes: Step Into Cross-Training

Matt Diehl — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:30:00 +0000

One of the perks of working at Kspace is we get to actually try out the dope K-Swiss kicks as they come out (and occasionally they let us keep them). I was surprised when I first tried out the new Tubes cross trainer: I was intrigued visually by the holes (i.e., “tubes”) perforating the heels, which I discovered provided a springy bounce to my movements. But most importantly, I was most impressed from putting the Tubes into action at the gym: the fit was ideally comfortable (not always easy for a size 13), and the support and flexibility balanced perfectly during even the most strenuous of exercise. I discovered with a little research that the comfort-to-fitness ratio stems largely from the patented Superfoam padding in the heel and the special k-EVA compound forming the midsole. According to this review from fitceleb.com, the Tubes provide additional protection to the knees during training “thanks to cushioning from a k-EVA midsole compound coupled with the motion of tubes working harmoniously with your feet.” However it works, practice proves it when it comes to rolling out these Tubes.

Fly The Flag: K-Ona Colorways for All Your Favorite Countries

Matt Diehl — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:03:12 +0000

True to its name, K-Swiss’ flagship triathlon shoe, the K-Ona, was inspired by Hawaii, where the globe’s greatest athletes battle for Ironman supremacy in that competition’s World Championships on flats warmed up by the tropical sun. Speaking of hot, now K-Swiss is introducing a new set of colorways that move beyond Hawaii, offering limited-edition flag colors to represent six great sporting countries from around the world: Australia, Brazil, Canada, German, Japan, and the United States.

There’s no doubt the technologically-savvy K-Ona is a great shoe, regardless of its styling, for both performance and health. “Ironman athletes are quickly falling in love with the latest Ironman specific running shoe from K-Swiss, the K-Ona,” Kevin Mackinnon raved on Ironman.com. “A quarter of the athletes racing [in an Ironman China event] bought themselves a pair of the lightweight wonders during the days leading up to the race and many even wore the shoes for the marathon in Hainan – a tribute to the outstanding comfort these shoes provide…

K-Swiss has utilized some anatomically correct flex-grooves that ensures you don’t have to work too hard to get onto your toes, which I’ve found really helps reduce a lot of lower leg issues, especially plantar fasciatis. It’s become a mainstay regardless of the workout – hills, intervals, steady runs all seem well-suited…

The bottom line is that K-Swiss has nailed this Ironman and triathlon-specific shoe.” That said, these new country-specific colorways enhance the whole K-Ona experience in their graphic beauty. The red-and-white geometry of the Japan edition gives it a characteristically modern, minimal beauty, while the red, yellow, and black of the German shoe impart a specific boldness when seen on the feet.

Regardless of style, these choices allow athletes to truly express their patriotism when competing: expect to see our top triathletes like Luke McKenzie, Chris Lieto, Torsten Abel, Rutger Beke, Terrenzo Bozzone, Leanda Cave, Gina Ferguson, Heather Gollnick, Belinda Granger, Matt Lieto, Kim Loeffler, Chris McDonald, Andreas Raelert, and Bree Wee flying the flag K-Ona’s crossing the line at at this year’s Ironman World Championships on October 10 in Kona Hawaii.

Making this truly a limited edition, the flag-colorway K-Onas will, true to their origins, only be available for sale at the 2009 Ironman in Kona. Then again, winning always has proved Exclusive, wherever it happens in the world …..

These limited-edition flag shoes will serve as a sneak preview for K•Swiss’ second generation ultra-lightweight K-Ona II running shoe hitting shelves in Spring 2009

K-Swiss X Partners & Spade Ping Pong Classic

tcroberts — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:42:25 +0000

Table tennis is making a come back in a big way, with the Hard Bat Classic last month and now with the launch of the “August Sweatout Ping Pong Classic” which K-Swiss has teamed up for a special shoe collaboration. Andy Spade and Anthony Sperduti of Partners & Spade, the gallery/retail space, have designed a new shoe in conjunction with the ever innovative shoe brand, which are a sleek, cool version of the timeless Classic just for the occasion. The splash of orange and the subtle stitching are a tasteful update that almost anyone can find space for in their collection.

There’s also a custom ping pong table that the guys will have for sale during the event. Fans of the craze seem to be after items special to the sport like hard bats and even special balls. While this may not be anything close to a heated football match, with kicks like these the competition for August 29 is bound to get fierce. Check linked vids below, and get yer sweat on ! :

Partners and Spade
August Sweatout
40 Great Jones Street
New York, NY 10012
August 29 Noon to 10pm
RSVP here

Wear: bright ‘n breezy Shorts by Franks

Jonathan — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:08:27 +0000

You know it, you can never have too many summer shorts especially if they’re as groovy as the new collection by Franks out of Australia just making their way into the UK and EU. Story goes that Frank (no tellin’ his age) has been rockin these since back in the day and that the Bondi Beach boys (and girls no doubt) queue up for them each fresh season. The extra bright ones have already been dropped in the laps of Moto from Soil & “PIMP” Sessions, the Jazzanova boys and GP Sportswide for tryouts and yeah of course i’ve got a pair otherwise i’d not be giving props.

Hey you don’t have to go to Oz to get yourself a pair, even though with all the North Sea rains these days we’d be lucky to ! only as far as their site where you can order up 1, 2 or 3 pairs if you so desire. What’s more them Franks ’swimwear apparel’ pieces come in a short leg and a mid leg for um the boys with you know what or a little modest and they’ll look and feel as cool around the house as yeah on yer board or lazing waterside on the sand.

You say swimwear apparel, we say board shorts – either way, we like !
and for those in London, now available at Start in Shoreditch and Sefton on Upper Street in Islington.

Wear: the Palladium boot returns – leaving the Foreign Legion days behind

Jonathan — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:48:00 +0000

An all time favorite returns ! and not a minute too soon I might add. C’mon it’s festival season and you need something sturdier and way cooler looking than your crusty old trainers or galoshes right when you head off to Lovebox, Bestival, Big Chill, All Points West or Wanderlust. It’s a boot, YES even though it’s summer but not just any old boot ! this is one that has stood the test of time from those Foreign legion days (um that none of us actually know anything about) through to your groovy little Euro cousin who came to visit in the summer and you no doubt snagged their pair.

Even if you never got to own a pair cause maybe the good Doctor (Marten that is) sidetracked you or they were not available for a while, thankfully now’s your chance. The Palladium site is now up and filled with Explorations, you’ll see what i mean, plus where to get a fitting so you’re convinced like i am that it’s your next purchase. The site will also give you the background on this classic brand, so i don’t have to get into it and instead can have you be on the lookout for the three hand painted Palladium wallscapes in New York (on Broadway), Brooklyn (Bedford Ave in Williamsburg) and Los Angeles (Melrose Ave) using hundreds of hand mixed paint colors and thousands of pounds of safety equipment.

Now i’m off to track down these groovy next gen Palladiums that i spotted in Nylon Mag and you know there’s gonna be a chance to win a pair right here !

oscar elongates the classic

Jonathan — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:42:09 +0000

I’m totally psyched to try on this crazee elooooongateddd version of the Classic – this one is number 4 in the ongoing series of Remasterings and is by mixed media artist Oscar Peters, who usually creates moving sculptures and explores the violence in humour or is it the other way round ? His approach for the ‘Classic Remastered’ is somehow scientific yet extremely groovy at the same time. He took apart the shoes in a very dynamic way, somewhat reminiscent of Professor von Hagens of the “body world” exhibitions. Discobolos finds himself decapitated and with red and blue cartoonish arteries-like shapes coming out of his neck ! yeah um well we have given the artists complete freedom after all, which you can check for yourself in the Gallery of Remasterings.

Keep a feed to this area for the ongoing Remaster-ing the next one by Sajoscha Talirz and also for a chance to WIN a pair of the timeless favorite K-Swiss Classic by answering with 5 icons you regard to be Classic in life.

yvo pollacks the classic

Jonathan — Wed, 13 May 2009 07:42:20 +0000

The remastering of the Classic continues at K-Space Amsterdam in all it’s vibrance and glory ! This 3rd interpretation in the ongoing series is by illustrator and designer Yvo Sprey and now up on display for all to see. Yvo can only be described as a drawing monster, a paper hunchback, the idiot captain of his own graphic world. His style is influenced by comics, south american artisans and other pagan arts. For his version of the ‘Classic Remastered’, Yvo started out painting the discobolo statue and the Classics themselves and seems to have ended up with a great “Jackson Pollock on Crack”! we love it thanks Yvo.

Take a look at this Gallery for all the ‘Remasterings’ so far and Stay tuned for the next renderings by Oscar Peters and Sajoscha Talirz Meanwhile enter our contest to win your own pair of the Classic with 5 things or people you deem to be Classic.

eiko remasters the classic

Jonathan — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 04:37:46 +0000

The 2nd ‘Remastered Classic’ is now up for all to see here and at K-Space in Amsterdam and this time it’s by Eiko Ishizawa from Japan who describes her idea as follows:
I wanted to camouflage the figure of the statue in the glamorous or almost even kitschy and heavenly atmosphere of the typical classic garden where often this kind of classic statues is placed. By hanging the monkey around the neck of the woman statue that is half way of the body is modified as tree, I wanted to overlap the meanings as humor that the image of the man jump on the woman, and at the same time the monkey is just living in heavenly place.

Eiko graduated from the Gerrit Rietvelt Academy in Amsterdam where she continues to live and describes here work in the arts as ‘inspired by how we perceive things in everyday stories while being influenced by something invisible, such as emotions and atmosphere in relation with the optical facts. My work often plays with the layers of meanings or layers of images and objects that attempts to get the audience into the discovery journey. The work is often expressed as theatrical stage set in order to almost camouflage the content, but rather to let audience to enjoy and to discover by themselves.’

The ‘live’ Classic Remastered Series continues on :
1st of May – Yvo Sprey
7th of May – Oscar Peters
14th of May – Sajoscha Talirz

Keep a feed to this area for the weekly Remastering and also for a chance to WIN a pair of the timeless favorite K-Swiss Classic for yourself.

bonno remasters the classic

Jonathan — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:05:16 +0000

To kick off the ‘live’ Classic Remastered series at K-Space Amsterdam, Bonno van Doorn has covered one of the statues with a polyurethane plastic, whereby the piece is transformed into a ghostly soul lost at sea on it’s way to the afterlife.”

Bonno van Doorn graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2008. In his work Van Doorn desires to reflect the beauty of the common in a very playful but confrontational and direct way, by working with subjects such as money, power, freedom and transitoriness. During his study Van Doorn has worked for an unconventional stage in Amsterdam where young artists could show their work to an audience. He did this by squatting empty spaces and organizing exhibitions in a rapid way. This summer he will go to Rotterdam for a residency where he will be doing new works.

The ‘live Classic Remstered Series continues on :
23rd of April – Eiko Ishizawa
1st of May – Yvo Sprey
7th of May – Oscar Peters
14th of May – Sajoscha Talirz
whom you can find in Milan exhibiting at the Salone del Mobile April 22-25 at Corso C. Colobbo 15 (50 metres away from metrostation Porta Genova)

Keep a feed to this area for the weekly Remastering and also for a chance to win a pair for yourself here

classics remastered live series

Jonathan — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:41:31 +0000

Take a close look at our K-Space Amsterdam discobolos and the lady Venus, cause this is probably the last time that they will be looking as white and as ‘classic’ as they currently are. To tie-in with the release of the Classic Remastered series and kspace online creative expression site, our sublime posers are in for a spot of Remastering themselves. We will be just as surprised as you to find out what and how our team of local heroes will be custom-izing live in the K-Space in Amsterdam
- kickin’ off this Thursday 16th of April will be Bonno van Doorn
23rd of April – Eiko Ishizawa
1st of May – Yvo Sprey
7th of May – Oscar Peters
14th of May – Sajoscha Talirz
whom you can find in Milan exhibiting at the Salone del Mobile April 22-25

Keep a feed to this area for the weekly Remastering and also for a chance to win a pair for yourself

winners of booka shade shoe-congrats

Jonathan — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:05:27 +0000

Well it’s been a tough one sorting through the many incredible and way original entries to the Limited Edition K-Swiss Classic ‘Booka Shade shoe’ competition ! But we’ve done it and come up with another 3 winners for now (YES there will be more, so do keep entering !) The design is by Berlin’s Hort and customized in Holland by top customizer Paul Beckers.

Congratulations to this round’s 3 winners starting with a very unique interpretation (pic above) of our guidelines, as submitted “from a special private show, the Three musketeers, spinning Booka Shade at home in the M.I.A. Miami , Floridaon the picture (The Maji, Bun+e, DJ Puffy aka puff-magic)” Props for the originality.

Next up is Rob Tobin from Dublin who travelled to Ghent’s I Love Techno gig “It was an amazing concert, great atmosphere and a great effort from Walter and Arno, as always! We’ve seen Booka Shade before in Tripod in Dublin in 2008, they always deliver. You’re my favourite band ever. Cheers and look forward to seeing you in Dublin on 24 April 2009, maybe with some new shoes.”
Well Robin we look forward to seeing pics of you wearing the shoes !

Lastly for now, we head to San Diego’s Hamilton Wright who captured Booka Shade at Creamfields in Central Europe last year “They were incredible and it was awesome to party amongst a bunch of crazy Booka fans that don’t really exist in America, or even San Diego. I also got a chance to see them this past March at the Ultra Music Festival. They made our trip! “ and is busy planning a way to see them again in the summer – lucky boy ! and def in need of a new pair of kicks for all the travellin.

So there it is this time – keep sending in your amazing entries in time for the next judging on April 22nd. Also be sure to check out the latest Booka Shade vs M.A.N.D.T. remix of Bronnt Industries Kapital in our jukebox.

classic remastered-step into the kspace

Jonathan — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:21:48 +0000

There’s a whole lot to be said about CLASSIC for sure ! but most of all it’s kinda that ease comfort and timelessness that probably best expresses the word. We’re very proud of our 1966 Classic original with its sport and cultural heritage, and with that in mind we welcome you to step into our K-Space Classic Remastered platform where our sports icons meet our cultural expression. It’s filled with vids/pics of Adam Green, Ed Westwick, newbies Jackson Swinton, poet performer Kesed I Am, tennis greats Tommy Haas & Ana Kournikova, Ironman athletes Chris Lieto and Katya Meyers and many more with great music by El Guincho , Dobie, Balkan Beat Box, Budos Band. K-Space is rolling out in various stages, so do keep checkin’ back and Before you go, do enter to WIN a pair of Classics of your choice by giving us a 5 line description of what Classic means to you. Winners announced each week.