Somewhere up in Hipster Heaven, the gentle strains of harp feedback pulse through the clouds, as too-cool angels in Ray-Bans spin chillwave tracks on their laptops and everything is painted with the nostalgic hues of a Wes Anderson film. This is the place where storks pick up the babies who will start their first noise rock bands at age five, where dreams of gourmet foodie donut shops and alcoholic milkshakes are sent out to those most worthy trendsetters and visionaries here on Earth. A place where Cool God himself (herself?) is literally putting together a match made in hipster heaven.
“Yeah, dude,” said Cool God, “I’m TOTALLY gonna get Sub Pop to partner up with TOMS shoes for a limited edition shoe collection to celebrate the label’s Silver Jubilee.” And yea! So it was. But what does this divinely inspired footwear look like? Well, come July 1, fans will be able to cop men’s gray lace-up Paseos, men’s classic navy slip-ons, and red classic slip-ons just for the ladies, all with a special Sub Pop design incorporated into the shoe. Each pair of shoes also comes with a nifty download card for an exclusive Sub Pop sampler, with new and hard-to-find tracks from people like Mudhoney, Shabazz Palaces, Father John Misty, Pissed Jeans, METZ, Shearwater, King Tuff, and much much more. (You also get that good TOMS brand feeling since for every pair of Fancy Guy TOMS Sub Pop shoes you buy, a needy child will also get a pair of some TOMS shoes.)
As Belinda Carlisle once sang, “Heaven is a place on Earth.” And on July 1, that place on Earth will be the TOMS flagship store in Venice, CA and Nordstrom’s flagship store in Seattle, WA. Heaven will also be online at the TOMS website. For those lucky enough to be attending Sub Pop’s Silver Jubilee Fest in Seattle, the anniversary shoes will be on sale at the Nordstrom’s tent on July 13. The Fest goes from July 12-13 and benefits non-profit radio 90.3 KEXP FM, Northwest Harvest, and the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation.
• Sub Pop: http://www.subpop.com
• TOMS: http://www.toms.com
