Steve Jobs’ favourite shoe (via Gwar izm)

We know we’re late on this one, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity of re-blogging this brilliant article by the great Gary Warnett aka @gwarizm, looking at the footwear of choice (New Balance 991) of one of the planet’s most influential characters, the late and great Steve Jobs, co-foundre of the little known ‘Apple’ brand.

We could try and do Gary’s words justice and re-word and possibly hash up what is one of the most genuine and appropriate tributes to the man who revolutionised how people buy and listen to music, communicate with each other and connect and purchase technology. So instead, we’ll give you a snippet of the post (full article here) and a few of the pics that Gary took whilst visiting the factory where the famous shoes are made, Flimby.

“For all the aesthete tendencies and focus on curves, it’s curious that Steve would opt for what’s arguably one of the ugliest shoes in the NB armoury. I’ve got a lot of love for the 991, but it’s the quality, the comfort of ABZORB and the shoe’s performance credibility rather than slick looks that make it appeal to me. The ‘USA’ panel is an awkward detail on a busy upper. Then it all makes sense — Steve had plenty on his mind and he didn’t need his shoes to cause any issues — the New Balance 991 is undisputedly trustworthy. Geniuses don’t want to deal with nonsense.

After taking some pictures of the New Balance 991 production line in the UK factory in Flimby earlier this year, my appreciation for the shoe increased significantly. I wasn’t sure where they should go, but it made sense to up them here in their entirety. I’m sure there are some like minded oddballs thinking differently who’ll enjoy geeking out over this kind of imagery. That afternoon we only caught the navy variation being put together but we saw the preparation for the greys that Steve favoured. Whether the big man preferred a Made in England or Made in the USA variant remains a mystery, but it’s long perplexed me that even UK-made versions of the 991 still have the ‘USA’ text on them. It’s unlikely that Apple would ever let anybody shoot inside their factories either, but that transparency is what gives New Balance its own rabid audience — one unlikely to switch brand allegiance and willing to cyber beef with critics too. Brand loyalty’s a powerful thing.”