Gallery: Ferrari and Ducati concept Fila shoes by Olivier Henrichot

Heel & Toe: Oregon designer dreams up Ferrari, Ducati sneakers originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Click above for a gallery of the Babolat Propulse 2 with Michelin rubber

Michelin, the tire company, has a division called Michelin Lifestyle Limited that focuses solely on extending the company's "Better Mobility Concept" to other arenas, the latest one being center court. The brand of Bibendum has developed the outsole rubber for a range of Babolat's new tennis shoes, the Propulse and Team.

With a tennis player's movements centered around "acceleration, braking, grip and relaunch" on a variety of different surfaces, the Michelin R&D lab probably had a good idea of what kind of rubber was needed. Michelin mated rubber technology from its auto racing programs with a revised version of its Optimized Cell System that uses seamless circlular micro-cells inspired by rally racing tires. The result is said to be exceptional grip and durability. And if it's good enough for Sebastien Loeb, there's a good chance it's good enough for the U. S. Open...

Gallery: Babolat Propulse with Michelin rubber

[Source: Babolat]

Advantage, Michelin: Tennis shoes wear car rubber originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading VIDEO: Major air - Ken Block and his flying Subaru

VIDEO: Major air - Ken Block and his flying Subaru originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: Michelin MXV4 Shoes

Continue reading In the Autoblog Garage Closet: Michelin MXV4 driving shoes

In the Autoblog Garage Closet: Michelin MXV4 driving shoes originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Sheila Driving Shoe makes high-heel and toeing a reality

Sheila Driving Shoe makes high-heel and toeing a reality originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Order a new Ferrari, Maserati or Lamborghini and you'll have the option of ordering fitted Schedoni luggage. The hundred-year-old leathercrafters are based in Modena, the same city where the exotic supercars are made, and the exclusivity and allure of their products rival that of the cars for which their luggage is custom-made. The company also makes bullet-proof briefcases for the Italian secret service, leather golf bags, thousand-dollar women's purses and those little pads in the cockpit that the shield Massa's and Raikonnen's precious heads, but back at the turn of the last century, Schedoni started by making shoes.

Teaming up with Puma, Schedoni is returning to its original core craft to produce a line of bespoke driving shoes for those who have to have everything to go with their fancy new gran turismo or barchetta. The collaboration between the two independent Scuderia Ferrari suppliers will yield two series of driving shoes. The first will come in Schedoni's trademark rich golden tan, branded with the owner's initials. If that's not personalized enough for your taste, a second line of shoes can be fully customized with their "puzzle kit" that allows customers to choose from a wide variety of leathers.

Each will be available in limited quantities, along with matching bags, for what promises to be exorbitant amounts of money. You know, just to keep the riff-raff out of these fancy sneaks.

[Source: Motor Trend via Luxist]

Sneaking Rich: Puma by Schedoni originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

UPDATE: The designer of the Camper Lotus, Patty Yuan, has contacted us with some corrections to our original post on her urban commuter. The design is actually her senior thesis project, and is simply a proposal to suggest what such a commuter vehicle might look like if it were designed by the company Camper. Neither Camper nor Lotus participated in the design of the Campter Lotus, and it appears as if the web has been creatively extrapolating both company's involvement from the project's name.

Spanish shoe brand Camper is just as famous for its lifestyle projects as it is for its shoes. FoodBALL, for example, is a restaurant opened up by the company pushing organic fast food in the form of whole grain rice balls filled with more organic, locally-sourced stuff (mushrooms, chicken, carob, etc.). Even the take-away materials are fully biodegradable, made from corn and sugar cane. Casa Camper, another endeavor, is a hotel tucked away in the cultural ground zero of Barcelona -- minutes from the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Centre of Contemporary Culture. Standard rooms have additional private space across the hall where guests can watch TV in hammocks or embark upon other projects, and as with FoodBALL, the environment is top priority.

Not one to pass up an opportunity to diversify in strange places, Camper has teamed up with Lotus to create an ecologically-friendly (concept) answer to Chinese traffic congestion. The Camper Lotus Personal Commuter is targeted at young entrepreneurs trying to find a better way to get to work. The gyroscopic two-wheeler has an incredibly small footprint, making parking a breeze, and encourages customization both inside and out. The enclosed nature of the car also provides the driver with personal space, a commodity difficult to come by on a scooter or bicycle. Power comes from household wall outlets, by the way, making for a convenient and generally cleaner makeup.

[via Jalopnik]

Lotus designs personal commuter for Chinese urban dwellers originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 19 Dec 2006 12:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.