You don't have to be a race driver to wear driving shoes. The specially-designed footware is an aid to safe driving on the road and – surprise – has even become fashionable as part of one's everyday wardrobe. This month's Winding Road, the online car magazine, features a colorful history of shoes worn by race drivers over the years, most of them quite amusing. Larry Edsall's tale focuses on the work of Ken Beard, who founded the Piloti brand after working for Adidas in Germany, designing shoes for many of the top athletes, and goes on to explain why everyone would be better off if they wore specialised shoes when behind the wheel. Aside from that, they look great, much more attractive than the clunkers seen in your average shoe store.
Larry's article got me to remembering my own race days when I deliberately wore tennis shoes because they gave me a better feel of the pedals when heel-and-toeing. And his mention of Adidas brought back another memory of being in fashion, or ahead of it in this case. Just before returning from four years working in Europe I purchased a bright red athletic bag with the name Adidas emblazoned on both sides. Back in North America it attracted plenty of attention because in that era the practise of imprinting a brand name or logo on a garment or bag (other than grocery shopping bags) was unknown on this side of the Atlantic. Who'd have thought that merely by walking down the street with a bag I was making a fashion statement? Today, no one would notice. I'll just have to get myself a pair of those colorful driving shoes.
Here in Japan some drivers remove their shoes before they get into the car and wear slippers in the car. I think they feel that there car is their home and nobody wears shoes in the house here.
January 28, 2008 @ 3:59 am