Creative Recreation

Now I don't know about all of you, my readers, but I am a huge sneaker guy! Being a sneaker guy, it is tough finding brands that are not just the run of the mill wannabe sneaker line that puts out a couple of styles and then slowly fades away due to the massive sea of existing brands. It is refreshing, however, when you do find a brand that is creative (no pun intended), stylish, consistent and affordable. Creative Recreation has been that brand for me! While they have styles that I would never dream of wearing, for the most part they have made and continue to make a lot of styles that I just love! However, some of those shoes that they make though, that I would never wear are also part of the reason I like them. They are daring and take chances in making crazy color patterns and styles. I appreciate that. It must be tough to be a designer and come up with stuff that has not been seen but that is also edgy, catchy and consistent!

The company was founded in Orange County, California by Robert Nand and Rich Cofinco. At the time, they felt that there was a void in the sneaker industry and wanted to fill that niche with their new company. They felt that this gap was so defined, that there was absolutely nothing filling the void between straight forward athletic sneakers and dress shoes. Therefore, they wanted to introduce 'the dressy sneaker.' And so they did!! Receiving a lot of their inspiration from traveling, the duo managed to make designs based off of their worldly inspirations and create a brand that is not only huge in the US but can also be found as far as Asia. Considering it has only been 8 years since their introduction, I applaud their drive and success!! In the States, you can find Creative Recreation's being sold from a spectrum of stores that goes from small sneaker shops all the way to Nordstrom, Barneys New York and an exclusive line at Saks Fifth Ave. It does not get much better than that!

As you can see above, they even do women's shoes. If you click on the link that is associated with their name (on my blog) you will see just how amazing their site is and how many different style and color options they offer! Aside from their more mass produced collections, they also obtain a more exclusive line that is made in Italy and can see as little as 90-100 pairs made per style, worldwide. That sounds like exclusivity at it's finest. You can be sure that if you own a pair of these that you have an insanely high chance of not running into anyone that will have the same pair of shoes that you do and if you do, by all means go buy a fucking lotto ticket! In the States though, this line can also be exclusive to one store. For example, the Turino style (pictured below in 3-green, purple & orange) can only be found Saks Fifth Ave. As far as their other 'collection' styles I feel like the rest of them are most likely found at smaller high-end sneaker boutiques.

While I own 4 Creative Recs, I figured that I would just post my favorite one to show my support and appreciation of the brand. I love this model and wear it quite often. Anytime a shoe has a mixture between leather and some fabric, I am usually sold as long as it's not too crazy. This form of tweed is my absolute favorite, so when I saw these I had to pick them up!