Just think about the patterns you could make in damp sand wearing these. Then think about whether or not you’d be happy titting around in damp sand in 335 quid shoes? You see? Sometimes the things that hurt us make us stronger. But most times they’re just fucking stupid.

Busting a Ripple Sole, these Derbys from Yuki Matsuda’s Yuketen are straight fire. I always find it interesting that many percieve the Ripple Sole as a fairly new, dare I say, fashiony conceit – for some it’s difficult to see past the exaggerated Red or Dead offerings in the 80s. But while super-chunky versions certainly catch the eye, the classic Ripple Sole, as designed by a chap called Nathan Hack for U.S. paratroopers in the 50s, definitely have a place in the armoury of the contemporary urban styleman. They’ve got good impact-support on hard surfaces and offer enhanced grip when the going is icy. Plus of course, they look dope as balls.

Here we’re talking “full grain American-tanned leather uppers, lined with soft-tanned cow leather“, “vegetable-tanned leather midsoles” and exclusive flecked Vibram soles. Details you’d expect from Yuketen, who’s handmade processes are exacting to the extreme.

Fuck sneakers – these are some mad high-standard shoes. They’ll get the beautiful babies in the bar clocking your bad self, with a mixture of attraction and raw terror. It’s the toothiness. If dinosaurs wore shoes, they’d be these. And I bet they wouldn’t give a fuck about getting sand in their insoles.