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I told you before that I went to Paris with C.S. in search of the Holy Grail of sneakers. It was probably due more to my imagination that I thought that there would be kicks that were impossible to find stateside than any actual proof I had been given. Europe is like this mythical place where they filmed the O.G. ‘Star Wars’ movies and my favorite film of all time, ‘Flash Gordon’. The one with that kick azz soundtrack by Queen (no homo). When I used to travel around the U.S. (east coast drug pipeline) I would always find stuff in North Carolina that had a powder blue colorway so I assumed that Europe would be the same way.

What I did find in Paris is that motherfuckers have small azz feet. It was a righteous struggle to come up on some exclusive kicks that were a size U.S. 12. I thought Japan would be the place where all the size 9’s lived. C.S. and I traversed the suburb ghettos on a mission. Strange enough is that Europe shoves all the poor people into the suburbs and forces them to commute to work while the inner city is where all the money resides. Going out to the suburbs was cool because it finally gave us a chance to co-mingle with some colored folks. On the outside looking in Black neighborhoods in Europe appear to be similiar to Black neighborhoods in the states. The staple format for retail establishments is still as follows; leather jacket store – liquor store – baby clothes store – fast food joint – storefront church – sneaker store. Rinse and repeat this floor plan wherever you go.

C.S. and I continued my crusade for the holy grail in a neighborhood called Cligancourt. On the weekends the central hub of the neighborhood becomes a wild open air flea market arena. The energy is turbo-charged and you can see that everyone is out and about in the mix. The key to these O.G. shopping malls is how you interact with the sellers. They give you a price full well expecting you to haggle with them to lower it. The back and forth is enjoyable for a little while. The way you close a deal in these situations is using the ‘show and go’ technique. You make your final offer while simultaneously taking out your cash. If the offer is rejected you place your cash in your pocket and begin to walk out of the store. Walk slowly because the store owner will not be able to control his urge to get your cash. More than likely he will call you right before you exit his store. This is how I came up on these kicks pictured below. Retro vintage ADIDAS Trimm Trabs in a sample size 9.

The Trimm Trab is a sick shoe. These joints were made popular by IVAN LENDL back in the early eighties. The silhouette is sleek like a track and field sneaker. Sueded nubuck is the minimum requirement for streetside styling. Peep the plastic molded lace eyelets integrated into the upper. I was happy to score them in a sick New York state blue/orange colorway.

Too bad for me that CHOCOLATE SNOWFLAKE wants me to start getting rid of my excess kicks so that we can make way for her LLADRO collection. If anybody out here is a sneaker fiend and they can fit a U.S. size 9(mens, of course) holler at your boy so we can make a deal.