K: Crooked Tongues has been online for nearly three years now.

Claw: Crooked Tongues is a passion, it's a crew thing.

Chris: Crooked Tongues is our online sneaker resource, acting as a catalyst and launchpad for our future Unorthodox Styles projects. The aim was to create a central point on the web that offered more than the other sneaker websites were doing. Instead of simply offering product for sale, we combined interviews, news and features to make a more entertaining and fulfilling resource. Crooked Tongues is just one of the projects we run from the Unorthodox Styles headquarters.

Claw: It's been brewing for years, for me it's just a thirst for new shoes,a b-boy thing, one-upmanship, which turns into numbers, which some refer to as a collection.

Chris: For most of us, it's more than a craze: we've been living this obsession for most of our lives. The popularity has increased over the past years as the realization that ANYONE can collect the shoes they like has grown. Sneaker culture has been latched onto by mainstream media and almost every brand is using 'urban marketing' for their gain. When the bubble bursts and it all goes underground again, you will see who the real sneaker heads are.

it seems like the UK, japan, and almost every other nation with a sense of progressive fashion has been on the sneaker trend for awhile. at the same time, it seems like most americans (except for the true diehards) still couldnt care less and are complacent with 1 pair of adidas shell-toes. why do you think that is? and do you think america's footlockers will start looking like the UK's anytime soon?

K: If they are complacent with one pair then they are not into the whole sneaker thing I guess. I might be wrong here but I think a majority of people around the globe have more than one pair of sneakers for a number of reasons... comfort etc. Sneakers themselves have gone beyond the trend. Sneaker collecting is a trend for some people and the manufacturers know this. Why do you think they are creating so many colourways of a particular product? Sneakers right now are like pop music: everybody likes them, everybody wears them. Comfort or not, it's cool to wear sneakers now. They're the modern day shoe.

Chris: Some people just aren't into the idea of owning shoes - just the same way that I particularly enjoy collecting records and lots of people think I'm mad for doing so.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. America is such a huge area that the collectors may seem further spread out - whereas in London, the collectors are more close-knit. The ratio is still probably very similar.

Claw: I don't have a main preference for a certain brand, each brand has their killers and their duds. Nike I like their runners, mainly Air max 1s, 90s, 95s, Cortez, Rios, Metros, and I like their ACG shoes for the colours, Lava Domes, Wild Woods, and Air Madas. I like Forces and dunks etc, but I'm not into hightops. I love Adidas more for their cultural affilations to shoes, b-boy shoes like Shells, Campus, Attitudes, soccer shoes like Gazelles, Trimm Trabs, ZXs, Marathons, and Countrys etc. The two big brands for me are like my two personalities, I'll wear a certain brand/shoe depending on what mood i'm in, or what track I'm listening too in the morning before i get dressed. Apart from the big two brands, I love Puma suedes, Vans and the odd pair of Sauconys.

Chris: Nike and Adidas will be the two most interesting to myself. It's been interesting to watch the brands change over the past years as they try to keep up with the trends. On a personal view, I feel that Adidas has worked hard to bring back its former glory - and is one of the most interesting shoe brands out there at present.

I feel like the market has become oversaturated with the limited edition/collabo tip on shoes. do you agree? are we gonna see less of this?

K: Most definitely, I think the brands are putting out so many products at such a quick tempo that the sneaker stores are like fast food stores but for shoes. I feel the term 'Limited Edition' is used too easily to sell some products as well. I don't mind the collaboration thing as long as it's executed properly and done with the right people. There have been a few in that I have raised my left eye brow. The Supreme, Stussy, Bape X Adidas, Stash AF1 and Futura Blazer are just to name few that have been cool collaborations.

Claw: I think that the brands themselves should experiment more with colour combinations, as the best colourways seem to come from the collaborations. I also feel the use of suede and fabric is always nice to see, leather creases to easy and looks wack when the shoe has been overworn, I like AF1s and Dunks, but they're the worst culprit for creasing, that's why I prefer the fabric/suede editions.

Chris: Yeah, the initial appeal of 'limited edition' was that it was something new and exclusive. Now, this has become commonplace... almost every shoe has some kind of 'limited' tag on it or 'exclusive colourway'. If this is the case, then EVERY shoe is limited! Whether there are 100 or 1000000, it doesn't matter. I hope we see less of it, but who knows? It all depends on how interested the public are at the time as to whether the companies continue the trend.

finally, it seems like you guys ALWAYS have the sneak peek at what's coming up in the sneaker industry. how do you have this kind of access?!?!?

K: Trade secret

Claw: Never teach the Wu-Tang.

Chris: By being in the right place at the right time! If you treat people with respect, you tend to get treated the same way... I think a lot of skeptics out there have seen that we're in this game for the long haul and we're not going to do anything but support the things we like. That kind of approach works well.