Helping celebrate the 20th anniversary of one of New Balance’s most popular silhouettes, the Purple Rose 576 pays homage to this classic New Balance style this spring.

Inspired by the purple roses found in the garden of the Versailles Palace, the 576 embodies royalty. Purple Rose features purple velvet lining representative of opulence and grandeur, white silk embroidery detail inspired by the landscape and layout of the palace gardens and gold accent stitching on the tongue signifying royalty. Furthermore, the white leather of the shoe is representative of the pure and indomitable spirit of Kings.

Moreover, the rose has a long-standing reputation as “a special gift” – a fitting choice for a shoe celebrating its 20th anniversary.

The Purple Rose 576 is a limited edition offering previously only available in Japan. Purple Rose will be available in the US beginning on May 15, 2008 and will retail for $95.00 in select stores nationwide.

Being Geeky seems to be in fashion now, Montreal designer Stefan Dukaczewski of MSTRPLN worked with Ubiq to create some geek chic sneakers in the “A Step in the Right Direction” project.

These unique Dunk Low prototypes have been re-engineered for the ASRD project, the silhouette of the classic Dunks is kept but is fitted with stealthier features, like the flap on top of the shoe and a new lacing system allowing for both conventional and internal lacing. All the electronic components are housed in the left shoe flap stamped with the MSTRPLN logo.

This wearable technology features an integrated 802.11 Wi-Fi detector and 3 LED indicator display lights. The ASRDs is rated for a 50 foot Wi-Fi hotspot detection zone and triggered by a pressure sensitive insole. There is no word on the availability of these Wi-Fi integrated sneakers yet.