Earlier this week Jay-Z celebrated his “Lace Locks” line which was officially launched at his 40/40 club in New York City. The event started around 10 at night and featured the man himself as well as his wife Beyonce, R&B superstar John Legend and Carmelo Anthony to name a few.
Designed to customize your latest kicks, Lace Locks are meant to accessorize whatever shoe you are wearing and add that bit of flare to it that wasn’t there before. It keeps your laces tight and stylish for all the sneaker and shoe aficionado’s out there. It goes in four basic steps- “Push, Pop, Lace and Lock”. I got to see several different designs of it, some basic and some not for the faint of heart in terms of luxury and looks. During the Knicks and Nets game, there were 13,000 Lace Locks given out to the crowd.
I got to sit down with the inventor of “Lace Locks” Josh Babyak, who was there celebrating with his team. An optimistic and up-beat kind of guy, I found the background of his bold and brazen concept even more incredible just from his description of it and what he sees for it in the upcoming years.
“I started collecting sneakers, collected a pretty cool collection- had about 1,000 Air Force Ones. I had a jeweler make me some custom lace locks”, Josh states. I got them, brought them home, went out for a night in Fort Lauderdale and people loved them.”
He then figured out there was a problem, and then came a great solution.
“The locks were great, but here was the thing- I didn’t want to keep taking my shoelaces out and in everytime I wanted to put my locks on. I am a huge shoe lover and with the collection I have it would be a hassle. So from there, Lace Locks were born”.
He had the idea for a couple of years until Jay-Z became an interested investor thanks in a big part to his partner Joseph Hannano, who I also met there. Jay designed the “All Black Everything” Lace Locks. They are black metal encrusted with Swarovski Crystals.
The focus at the event last night was sneakers, yet Josh has so many different ideas for what he wants to do with them.
“I would love to use them for golfers and make them magnetized. It would be a great idea because they can use it to put their tee or golf ball on top, or both.”
The big question I asked was why this wasn’t in the 2012 Olympics
“I know, right,” Josh responded. “We are hoping to get this into the 2014 and 2016 ones. That would be amazing and could work so well with so many different events that they feature.”
The variety of “Lace Locks” that are available are pretty spectacular. It ranges from the “Brooklyn” ones which were given away at the game last night to ones that are exclusively designed for specific players on the Brooklyn Nets such as Gerald Wallace and Tyshawn Taylor. The pricing for the basic ones range pretty decently and can also be customized as well. Log onto the Lace Locks website for more information. Good luck to Jay, Josh and the “Lace Locks” team in the future!
