'574 Dragon Pack 2012'

"In anticipation of 2012 being the Chinese Zodiac year of the dragon, New Balance will be revisiting the mythical serpent theme once again by releasing a pack of sneakers based on the legendary creature.





"However, what has really caught our eye is the collaboration series that is only made for display purposes. Five influential stores/labels from around Asia were tasked with conjuring up a their unique take on one of the five hero dragons that are based on the wood, fire, metal, earth and water elements.

Mita Sneakers from Japan came up with their take on the wood dragon, which sees the shoes employ a wood-like print on the leather uppers as well as roped laces and cork insoles. Japanese label, Whiz, put their spin on the fire dragon with some mean-looking dragon scales for parts of uppers. China's NPC interpreted the metal dragon by using shiny silver leather with snakeskin accents, while Taiwan's Invincible did up their take on the earth dragon with digital camo and snakeskin accents. Lastly, Singapore's Limited Edt interpreted the water dragon by using see-through uppers with a bit of reflective material on the heels as well as lace toggles. "

via streething