I am a sneaker freaker. I just saw the collections from Italian sneaker company D.A.T.E. and am in love.

From DNR, "Founded by four friends in 2006, D.A.T.E. takes its name from their initials: Damiano Innocenti, Alessandro Zanobini, Tommaso Santoni, and Emiliano Paci. The foursome first met in London in 2004 and decided to create D.A.T.E. inspired by the look of '70s sneakers and London street culture and nightlife. Simple forms embellished with colorful materials and accents, such as printed textiles, linen insets, and laminated gold calfskin."

Currently only available in the US at Bloomingdales (New York). I'm going to try to track down a pair this weekend.

The suggested retail is between $130 and 180, which is well worth it for these sneakers. I'm guessing the hightops, which are the ones I'm most into, cost $180, which is three times as much as I paid for my white on white Vans Sk8-Hi Classics. What's a poor designer/blogger to do?!?