Trip To Burton Factory: Part 2

As a recovering shoe addict, I head strait to the footwear section of any store I enter. The Burton store was no exception. Pulling multiple, "no thank you, I'm just looking," Heisman on salesmen, I headed strait to the shoe section to assess the situation. All of Gravis', Burton's street wear sub brand, looked disappointingly familiar...

Recognize this shoe?
Well maybe this will help...
This is a well worn, Nike SB Verona, purchased at Exit Real World in Portland Oregon in Spring of 2007, which Gravis photocopied. Note the red ascents and same sized cement print.

Burton has amazing design talent at their finger tips. This season, Burton teamed up with Futura to create limited edition outerwear and with Head Porter to create some beanes. Former veteran Burton designer, Hiroki Nakamura, has recently gained substantial following through the success of his brand Visvim. Why doesn't Burton leverage their knowledge of manufacturing, design, quality, and quality to create interesting footwear?

Trip To Burton Factory: Part 1

On Saturday, my amigos and I made the trek up from Middlebury to Burlington for a day of exploration. We stopped by the Burton headquarters to see their flagship store. Like all flagships, this one was over staffed and very loud. However, in their lobby were twenty snowboards documenting both the evolution of the sport but also Burton as a brand.

Look at the evolving shapes.The Safari color was is awesome. Very excessive.
These boards are great examples of the decadence that defined the 1980s.