SBTG X PHU

Fastest fingers first boys and gals...

In memory of: Footpatrol, London

To all valued customers, suppliers and visitors to Footpatrol, Footpatrol opened in 2002 in Soho, London stocking select sneakers and footwear. Our mission was to find the best of the best across various footwear brands and to create special projects with our partners. Our lease at 16A St Anne’s Court has come to an end and we have decided not to renew. We will therefore close the physical store at the end of March 2008. In the meantime, we will be having a clearance sale at 16A St Anne’s Court. We are continuing to work with our suppliers on some special projects. These will appear over the summer at our other stores - Stussy on 19 Earlham Street and The Hideout on 7 Upper James Street. Please check our websites and Crooked Tongues for more information closer to the release time. Thank you for your support and custom over the past five years.

The Footpatrol Team

A legend, an institution in the sneaker scene of yore is closing its doors very soon. Footpatrol had established itself and stamped a giant footprint in the echelons of sneaker culture ever since its doors slid open in the cranny that is St. Anne's Court in London.

Though small for a sneaker store, this was not your average run-of-the-mill sneaker store. In the following years since opening, one could walk in and find some of the rarest and most sought after releases, if you were quick enough to beat away the crowds of frenzied sneaker lovers baying for the hottest tier-0 drops. With its caged interiors displaying only the most exlcusive, limited edition sneakers, it soon became a must go store for any sneakerhead who lives in or visits London. Coupled with Footpatrol being located in an obscure little alley away from the highstreet stores, it made true a sneaker lovers dream of tracking down that hard to find store that held many a treasures.

Once people caught wind of London's only tier-0 account, queues started to form before hyped releases. Footpatrol played host to a multitude of rare releases which include Stash AF1 Hi's, London Dunk SB, DUNKLE, Amsterdam AM1, HTM releases, the first Adidas Consortium series, and a host of queue-snaking warranted shoe releases.

What set Footpatrol apart was the top notch customer service one would get, no matter where you were from. The guys there were accomodating and knowledgable with enough time for good customer service to boot. Always up for a chat and well organised when it came to crowd control when queues formed overnight, they even went out of their way to provide extras for enthusiastic campers...from pizzas (DUNKLE drop) to tea and biscuits in a FP mug (FB Stab drop), they made every exclusive drop that much more special with freebies and stickers.

Camping out at Footpatrol with fellow sneaker mates was always good fun. Never once have we experienced a hostile queue and everyone was out for a laugh an a bit...brilliant vibe.

Footpatrol holds a tender place in our Sole Obsession hearts...it formed a part of us and moulded what Sole Obsession was borne out of. We remember the 15 hour camp out in the cold for London Dunks, New Year's day queue for Adidas Consortiums and just tapping on that sliding door, awaiting in anticipation what one could find in the caged display. With the internet and online sales and auction sites taking over the hunt for limited edition sneakers, the balance has unfortunately shifted and physical stand-alone tier-0 stores are being swept aside in view of bigger scale sneaker supermarkets that stock everything from general releases to quickstrike to garbage basically.

We hope among hopes that Footpatrol will resurface physically in the near future, the shop may be gone but their presence will definitely live on....tribute!!

Lazy x Darbotz x Ubiq EL custom

Acclaimed Singapore sneaker customiser Lazy and Indonesian graffiti artist Darbotz pitted their minds and skills together in this explosive first collaborative effort by the two. What transpired can be seen on the unconventional weapon of choice, the Ubiq EL.

Subtlety is the keyword here, with the centrepiece being the custom-made wooden replica of a Ubiq box complete with inner Cumi Cumi signature artwork by Darbotz. The shoe itself is re-worked with Lazy's logo tag below the tongue tag and Lazy's signature hand carving skills interpreting Darbotz Cumi Cumi design on the leather ankle strap of the EL. The whole package is finished off with customised insoles.

New Balance 576 20th Anniversary @ Leftfoot

Friday, 7 March 2008
Leftfoot Anthropology store, Holland Village, Singapore

New Balance with an impressive setup to celebrate the launch of the 576 20th Anniversary campaign in Singapore. The first hour was a media only preview, but we managed to sneak our S.O's in to snap some photos before the hordes descended upon the latest installment of local sneaker chain store Leftfoot.

The entire store was transformed into a New Balance haven, with an epic room that should contain a health warning label at the entrance. One could suffer a from dehydration due to loss of fluid via drooling at the amazing selection of rarer-than-your-grandad's-porn-stash display of NB sneakers. A revolving exhibit of past, present and future models of the 576 gave us a glimpse of what our great-grandchildren could be wearing (shudder).

A vast NB exhibition of close to 200 pairs of kicks, pumping music from DJ Ume (Tokyo), booze and finger food that flowed like our bladders after too many beers, and a live installation by renowned graf artist Jahan, made this a benchmark event for all to follow.

Huge shout out to New Balance Singapore (King Arthur and Prince Patrick), Anthony and Kevin, all of the Leftfoot crew, DJ Ume, Jahan, and all who showed up to show love and support.





Accompanying artwork by SBTG and Meth for their collaborative effort on the Leftfoot 'Heaven and Hell' 576. This graphic will be incorporated somewhere as part of the whole packaging...stay tuned!







The vege-tan premium as a $5000/hour escort 576. Made in England goodness with all the bells and whistles you could want. Smells as good as it feels, trust us, we sniffed. Don't forget, free re-soles after 5 years of wearage!


Top left: Patrick (NB) and Tetsuya (NB.jp), Top right: Installtion by Jahan
Bottom left: Flowers bestowed by well-wishers, Bottom right: Streething's photo-maniac


Top right: Mr and Mrs SBTG, Top left: Who needs DJ Ume?
Bottom left: The Random Rambler caught!, Bottom right: Ben Yeo and Patrick

Bottom pics: Anthony (Leftfoot) kneels in honour of the King! King Arthur rightfully claims his throne.

Coverage: Hypebeast

Massive Singapore thanks to the good folks at Hypebeast for the coverage

Coverage: Freshnessmag

Cheers to Freshnessmag and our boy Masa for the coverage

Sole Obsession x Lazy x NB 576 20th Anniversary Purple Rose T-shirt

Sole Obsession x Lazy x NB 576 20th Anniversary Purple Rose T-shirt

Only 50 pieces made to be given out at the invite-only 576 20th Anniversary launch party at Leftfoot Anthropology, Holland Village, Singapore.

New Balance "20th Anniversary of 576" Launch Party @ Leftfoot Holland Village

New Balance X Limited Edition store NB577 launch

As usual Sole Obsession tries to bring coverage of every sneaker event here on our small island.

Loads of sneaker porn-love to LE and NB for the launch of Singapore's very first collab shoe...who would have guessed it would've been a New Balance sneaker busting out from all the other brands to grab hold and stake claim to the title of being the first LE collab shoe. Only shows NB is stepping it's game up in the right direction....nice one lads!

On to the photos...

Choo Ee (Streething) and Wilfred (Adidas)

The Man who made all this possible...King Arthur (NB)

Arthur (NB) and Mandeep (LE)

Leftfoot head honchos with Streething and Patrick (NB)

Wilfred (Adidas) and Tony (Lazy)

Patrick (NB) giving some fool a Made in England headlock

King Arthur with his little princess

Aaahhh bless!!!

Cheers to all that made this launch happen!