“Hmmm…Sneakerheads.” Some people ask, “What does that even mean?”  Well, most of us here at Cashmere are guilty of that title.  We like to collect nice kicks…it’s almost considered art to us – aesthetically pleasing to the eye with all the different colors, styles and fabrics.  Although the term “sneakerhead” has recently become the “cool” fashion statement, many of these sneaker fiends have been underground for quite sometime and it isn’t until now that they’ve gotten recognition.

According to a recent article by BrandWeek, “Sneakerheads” are looking to be the future of marketing! Since the downfall of print magazines, marketers for major shoe companies have been looking for the newest way to market their shoe.  They have found that the niche group of “Sneakerheads” are the future.  “We have seen the sneaker culture increase over the past several years to the point where, today, bloggers are integral partners in helping spread the word about coming products,” says Simon Atkins, director of Adidas’ Sports Style Division U.S.  “We’re putting a lot of effort into this type of consumer, and we’re spending a lot of time on them.”

Nowadays, if you sell sneakers in the U.S., you have no choice but to form good relationships with a handful of bloggers who act as tastemakers for the category. And if you want to do that, you’ll have to go through Rich Antoniello.  Antoniello is the publisher of Complex Media, which produces Complex magazine, but is also affiliated with five of the top blogs in the category — including NiceKicks.com (one of the most influential shoe blog/website on the internet!) — which together collect 2.2 million unique visitors and 22 million impressions per month, according to Google Analytics.

Now that this group of influential fashion tastemakers finally gets recognition, we’re excited to see how “sneakerheads” will shape fashion styles and the online marketing sphere – both areas which Cashmere is immersed in! For more on this Brandweek article, click (here)

Yes…it’s that time again…for the NABJ (National Association of Black Journalists) Annual Conference & Career Fair.  From the early morning workouts and the beautiful sights of Tampa’s beaches and Riverwalk to the adorning sessions/workshops with some of the nation’s reputable journalists and celebrities – This is truly a conference that no one should miss, regardless of career path or field.

CNN analysts Roland Martin & former NABJ National President (former Ebony/Jet Magazine VP) Brian Monroe, have tapped into the current issue of our attendees in the workforce – balanced and fair coverage of world-renowned entertainer Michael Jackson. LeBron James and Tiki Barber are just a few of our athletes/celebs that have blessed us with their presence on the topic of an upcoming documentary via Lions Gate Films called More than A Game. The movie details the life of the “Fab 5”, or simply put…LeBron James and his four best friends, that started their journey together in Akron, Ohio at a basketball camp and solidified their craft all the way through high school. The documentary started as a college project for an Ohio student. Seven years later, it is a film opening in LA, New York, and Cleveland on October 2nd. Check out the trailer below.

We all know and love Lance Armstrong and Nike’s benefit towards cancer research…which is coined by the infamous yellow “LIVESTRONG” wristbands.  Initially launched in 2003, LIVESTRONG, has raised much awareness and thousands of dollars for the foundation.  Now, Lance and Nike have come together in another great effort to launch a new campaign – STAGES, is a global art exhibition to raise funds and awareness for the fight against cancer.

Over twenty renowned artists have donated their time and creativity to express the LIVESTRONG message and raise funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which is committed to inspiring and empowering people affected by cancer.  Shepard Fairey, Kaws, Raymond Pettibon and Damien Hurst are just to name a few.

STAGES is more than an event. It is a unique celebration of human potential inspired by Lance and dedicated to the fight against cancer.

It unites the world of art, philanthropy, and sport by bringing together some of the most renowned figures in art to produce work inspired by Lance and his fight against cancer.

The Bikes of Stages

More recently, Damien Hurts and the STAGES effort just released their latest piece of art.  The masterpiece features the Trek Madone bike with Hirst’s creative touch!

For more information on “The Bikes of Stages” head over to TrekBikes.com/US/En/Stages. And to see what Hirst said about his latest piece, check it out on Hypebeast.

Okay, so we usually have iPhone and Blackberry wars here in the office (fyi: the Blackberry clan usually wins), but this time…iPhoners definitely won major points this this new application (although it is available for other PDA’s including the Blackberry – we all know Siri will make the dopest app for the iPhone!)

Siri is the first virtual personal assistant that helps you hail a cab, book reservations at a restaurant and/or hotel room, buy movie tickets and even find activities to do for the weekend! This concierge on-the-go service is ready and able to address all of your mobile needs — simply type what you need and Siri will respond with a solution.  Siri hasn’t officially launched, but you can sign up for free to be one of the first to try this new app!

For more information on Siri, click (here)

Never fails…leave it up to Google to create somethign so genius!! Since everyone is on this Twiiter, Facebook and social networking hype, Google decided to create a program that fuses e-mail, instant messaging, and content sharing into something resembling a cross between Twitter, Facebook, and your standard email platform.

Google Wave, which is expected to release later on this year, “combines conversation-type communication and collaboration-type communication,” Lars Rasmussen, a software engineering manager at Google and the project’s co-founder.  What is great about the Wave is it can be shared and it streams live! Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then the playback option lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

For more information on Google Wave click (here)

Spotted at MediaPost.com

Saturday and Sunday March 21-22 10am-5pm
Los Angles
Cinespace – FREE  ADMISSION – Day time event only
Cash Only is a sample sale of the dopest brands in the game
DJ’s spinning thru out the day while you shop in a  tradeshow-like environment

The after party is that Saturday Evening at Cinespace and on the tables will be Coleman and B + of Mochilla/TIMELESS rocking some of the dopest Brasilian, Columbian and African music like only the Mochilla crew can do

JRocc will be JRocc so whatever he brings to the table you already know he’s gonna kill it.

The fashion on the red carpet was hot and fresh for the fall last night too.  Christina Aguilera looked fantastic channeling Elvira!  Wow!  And other girls that rocked it were Keri Hilson, Rihanna (always!), and Ciara, who had a cute new haircut!  The highly anticipated return of Britney Spears did not disappoint either!  She looked the best ever in years and is now even being called “comeback kid” of the VMA’s!  Oh ya, the guys did pretty well too!  Neyo and Ludacris showed up in really nice new looks for the upcoming fall season and T.I. showed up in a red jacket, standing out as usual with style!

The show turned out really well and some amazing performances overall.  Check out some of them at the links…

The Dish Saturdays 10/9c on Style

K8′s fav. video of the week: “Hit Em High”

Takin’ it back to the 90′s with that Space Jam! You all remember the movie with Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny right?!?!? Well “Hit Em High” was the jam! I love the video — it brings back memories from my basketball playing days. The movie was classic, and Busta’s verse is hot-t-t-t. Check out the vid @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJj4cg9ZLdo

What’s in your CD player Kelvin???:

“Sleep Through the Static” is my music top pick for this week. Jack’s back to his smooth-rocking self but this time with a slight change. Along with his signature gentle acoustic numbers, Johnson and friends have added a touch of darker narration with songs like “All at Once,” and “Sleep through the Static.” However, while these changes are greatly welcomed, Jack’s best in his element with simple songs like “Angel” and “Go On.” Some of the lyrics on the album tend to try too hard to be prophetic but I’ve still been jamming out to it for the past week!

Brittany the intern:

My pick is Mariah’s new single, “Touch my Body”. It just released last week and sounds a lot like a new version of some of the tracks on The Emancipation of Mimi. Her voice is so amazing always! The song is really catchy and girlie, although I was definitely expecting more of an up-beat/dance/club beat for her first single. Can’t wait to hear the whole album! Good job, MC!

And…. Last but not least……

Seung and the Queso aka “Cheesy Crack”:

We went to the restaurant chain “On The Border” for Double R’s birthday. The chile con queso there is the bomb.com. I like to call it “cheesy crack.” The gooey cheese passes my TCT test. Texture… Consistency… Taste. The Texture is smooth and creamy but light enough to pass a tortilla chip with the greatest of ease. The Consistency stays true. As time passes the cheese doesn’t coagulate and get too hard too quickly. That buys you time to chat and/or watch a game and then dip a chip much later and still have the same creamy consistency as the first dip. Staying power is a strength. Finally, the Taste is like a fiesta in your mouth. It immediately awakens the palette with its milky, tangy flavor with a strong influence of jalapeño and spices. It’s what keeps you coming back…

Keep an eye on the LoveJD website for new webisodes!!