Electrolites

You can learn a lot about a city through art -- Manet provided a glimpse into the bustling, titillating night life scene unfolding across Paris, while the Eagles proved that Southern CA was overrun by hotels where people had weird, wine-less feasts. Artistically putting NYC on your feet: Electrolites Footwear.From a couple of Brown alums who wanted to bring light-up kicks into the adult world, Electro's handmade, ltd ed haute street sneaks frequently feature collabs with up-and-coming local artists to "embody the energy, creativity, and drive" of NYC, and're inspired by people "on the grind every day", which couldn't work with a shirt, as Eric Nies never wears one. Their debut silhouette's a hi-top rocking an extra-wide tongue that boasts optional step-responsive LED lights behind their "E" logo (intended to resemble a flipped 3 train sign) on the right shoe, and a perforated leather patch on the left, while both feet're lined with a floral seersucker pattern, so they can look like roses even after they stop smelling like 'em. The five launch colorways include basic options like two-toned suede (either gray or black) and cream colored raw natural canvas, each avail in runs of 500, while more steezed up designs (50 pairs each) were worked up with Brooklyn artist KORAKRIT, whose creations include a white job with camo-esque splashes of metallic gold, and a wild, graffiti-on-acid color splatter called Black Light Neon, if you want to take your feet to the Maximas.EL also slings goods from their collaborators (tees, paintings, mewelry...), and even worked up a shirt sporting simply their logo and the phrase "Take it Easy", something the Eagles probably should have done less of if they wanted to make any sense.