On June 17, trance artist Paul van Dyk released his own line of TOMS shoes, though van Dyke is far from the first artist to do this. Here are eight great musicians with their own sneaker designs.
1. Run-DMC
Being a group that wrote a song about how much they love their sneakers, it should come as no surprise that Run-DMC has their own line of Adidas shoes. For Christmas 2013, Adidas released a new line of sneakers called "Christmas in Hollis" Superstar 80s, inspired by Run-DMC and late NYC artist Keith Haring.
2. Animal Collective
A shoe designed by psych-pop band Animal Collective can be expected to be at least a little bit strange, but compared to the band's highly experimental music, the Tobin is relatively subdued, a simple white slip-on with a few colorful drawings by band member Avey Tare.
3. Kanye West
The fact that Kanye West's Air Yeezy shoes for Nike don't feature his own name written in bright neon letters along the side is nothing short of a miracle, though miracles are probably pretty easy for Kanye to come by, being a god and all.
4. Noel Gallagher (Oasis)
Noel Gallagher is the Gene Simmons of alt-rock, with an admirable willingness to do anything to become rich and famous. This includes an Adidas shoe line he debuted back in 2011, which feature an image of his own face on the tongue (in gold, no less), which is something I would've expected Kanye West to pull.
5. Dinosaur Jr.
Other than maybe Steve Albini, Dinosaur Jr. is probably the last indie rock icon I would've expected to have its own shoe line. In 2013, however, Keep debuted a short line of purple suede shoes designed by Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis, though it wouldn't be indie rock if it didn't also come with a record.
6. No Age
I wouldn't have thought that No Age was famous or legendary enough to get its own line of shoes, but back in 2009 the avant-punk duo debuted its very own sneaker through skateboard shoe company Emerica, designed by the band and skateboarder/artist Ed Templeton.
7. Eddie Van Halen
Back in 2009, Eddie Van Halen brought a lawsuit against Nike for supposedly ripping off his signature Frankstrat paint-splatter design for a line of shoes, just one month after he debuted his own line of sneakers with the very same design.
8. Bon Iver
Not even sensitive folkies are immune to the appeals of sneaker design. In 2012, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon debuted a line of sneakers through Keep, and though they were criticized for being pretty ugly (the fishbone is a bit distracting), I actually like the salmon pink color. Maybe that's why I'm not in the fashion business.
