Bumped into Mark McNairy the other day outside the Hideout.
Mark and Lia were on a whistle-stop visit to London and were checking out the store and saying hello to the guys there.
It's a hard habit to break, but clocking Marks footwear is almost always the first thing I do whenever we meet.
On this occasion he was wearing a pair of country brogues, commando soled, mottled leather in brown with a yellow flash at the back.
They're Union Specials he said, with quiet but discernible pride.
Turns out he made them with Chris from Union and Luke Meier exclusively for the store in LA - part of a collection with three colourways.
One of the things I love about McNairy's work is that he often bridges the gap between streetwear and traditional menswear faultlessly.
And that ain't easy.
BTW: the head-shot of Mark was taken by my fellow traveller for the day, Andrew Bunney, and lifted from his Honeyee blog.
I was too busy taking pictures of McNairy's shoes to photograph the man himself.
Superficial? Me? Damn right I am.
