Michael Buckner is a fashion and celebrity photographer who travels around the world taking pictures on the red carpet. He gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the hottest entertainment industry events.


Big summer premieres always draw a large crowd on Hollywood Blvd. Monday night was no different for Will Smith's Hancock premiere. Stars Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman walked the red carpet through piles of toppled cop cars and taxi cabs with their respective significant others. Casts from the past Tatyana Ali, Queen Latifah (in a sick pair of Nike Women's Dunks), Amanda Peet, Virginia Madsen and so many more showed their support for yet another super hero movie this year.

Jada Pinkett Smith looked stunning in a green dress with bright blue Indian-style earrings.

Right when I was zipping my camera bag shut Will, Charlize and Jason walked all the way back down the carpet for a group shot, but all in all, it was a great day for summer premieres -- especially since most celebrities don't want to come out to their friend's openings any more.

Barack Obama's face has already been featured on flags, t-shirts, and even designer men's underwear. Now, some dude named Van Taylor is hocking Nike Air Force sneakers, hand-painted with Barack's face and slogans, online for $500 a pair. We have to hand it to the guy, it's a brilliant idea. We think he'll still be trying to fill orders when the 2012 presidential election rolls around.

When people start painting your face on shoes, you know you've reached a level of popularity that is both awesome and freakishly scary. We can't remember too many celebrities who've had the honor of being depicted on footwear. Oprah's face has never been on a shoe. Che Guevara? Jesus? It's pretty much just Michael Jordan and Obama.

If I were an aging, dorky, white presidential candidate -- I would certainly be worried about my chances. Maybe someone in the McCain camp should start hand-painting Sperry Top-Siders.

[via PopCrunch]

Maria promised to change up her Wimbledon outfit, and and she came through. Her "menswear-inspired" Nike outfit is a decidedly sexy, sheer top with a tudexo "dickie" embellishing the front. With the matching white jacket and white shorts, she could as easily be on her way to lunch as to a championship match.

Players frequently blend in at Wimbledon, where everyone is required to wear white from head to toe. A few, like Sharapova, manage to stand out despite this restriction.

Five-time champion Roger Federer, also sponsored by Nike, does it with a surprise look each year. Others, like Rafa Nadal and his manpris, have their own unique and consistent look that they bring to every match. Not to mention regular fashion notables Serena and Venus Williams, who are almost as well known for their fashion off the court as they are for winning on the court.

Check out the fashion high points of Wimbledon Week One in the gallery.

The Wimbledon grand slam tournament started on Monday, with top seeded trendsetter Maria Sharapova surprising everyone by wearing shorts this year.

The Nike -clad Sharapova going butch is a big surprise. Usually Maria is the girliest of girls on the court, with long blond hair, long earrings and short, flirty skirts. Last year her white Wimbledon dress was inspired by Swan Lake. One year she even wore diamond encrusted shoes.

Join us for a spin down memory lane as we check out Maria's past Wimbledon fashion choices in the gallery.

Whit Honea is a slacker, a borderline degenerate, and a daydream believer. He's also our resident expert on casual chic. If it's comfortable, and not heinous, he's all over it. He's quite charming, really.

Chances are you've seen an Ames Bros. product and didn't even realize it. Whether you're a fan of Pearl Jam or Leonardo DiCaprio, or possibly both, then you have seen the artwork of the brothers Ames. Actually, you've seen the creative work of Barry Ament and Coby Schultz. No relation.

If you have tender toes, then you know that working out can mean more than just aching muscles. The wrong socks can rub your feet raw with rough material or sharp seams.

Many, many times we've been really cooking on the elliptical machine, thinking, "We're finally going to fit into that sample size dress!" only to cut the workout short because of painful blisters from our socks.

That's why we're pleased to bring you the 'Trash Talk' shoe from Nike. Yes, Nike. Big companies can have a heart, too.

Last week the Wall Street Journal continued their groundbreaking coverage of shoes.

In this latest installment reporter Christina Binkley did a comparison of several expensive high heels that are purported to be "comfortable."

Naomi Campbell spits on strangers. Now she's banned from British Airways for life. [Reuters]

Wish you could beat Karl Lagerfeld with a baseball bat and steal his car? Now you can! He's in Grand Theft Auto IV. [Shiny Shiny]

Are you a hopeless douche bag who tries too hard to be cool? Then you'll want this lame handbag "Urban Performer Unit" in your arsenal. [Gizmodo]

It's so money it doesn't even know it. Claw Money to be exact. Claw is the handle, so to speak, of an ex-graffiti artist named Claudia. She was the queen of NYC before moving to L.A. and going legit with a career in styling and costume design for music videos. Her clients included KORN, Brian McKnight, GNR and Ice Cube.

She returned to New York and did some television and print ad styling work for Nike, Guinness, and Footlocker, to name a few.

Now she writing books and designing all kinds of stuff, some of which we may show you in the future, but for now you'll have to be content with these sweet shades, the Nuggets ($300), Gazelles ($250), and Aviators ($230). Sweet shades, indeed . You know your future is so bright that you want to wear them.



[via Thrillist]

Running against stiff competition like Nike and Adidas, Puma has been struggling in recent years. And really it's hard to compete with Stella McCartney designing for Adidas and Nike basically having the backing of every major sports superstar out there. But Puma is putting it's best foot forward. They recently decided to buy the Hussein Chalayan fashion label.

For Puma's fall 2009 line, Hussein Chalayan will supervize "the creation, design and collection of (Puma's) Sportfashion collection."

Chalayan will work out London, which makes sense since he already has a name for himself there. He's won Best British designer of the year twice.

Alexander McQueen already designs for the Puma and I don't really know how much it's done to invigorate the company. Really, Hussein Chalayan isn't a household name for people outside the fashion world. I don't know how much this is going to help the ailing Puma brand gain street cred. Although, maybe since the label is more well known in Europe it will gain some ground for Puma over there.

Good luck to Puma, but I have to say, I'll be sticking with Adidas!

Via Yahoo.

I run at night, so it doesn't even matter what my shoes look like -- but still I can't get myself to buy the standard, dorky-looking running shoes for some reason. That's why I was super excited to see that Nike is bringing back the old waffle style running shoe.

They may be low tech, but I don't care. Give me retro nylon and suede leather and I'll whip you up and down the hike and bike trails.

I might even buy these babies at a second-hand store, but I prefer to stink up my own shoes. I found these at Finish Line, but I'm seeing them all over the place. Best thing Nike has done since Air Jordans.

Buy
[via Productdose]

Every now and again I'm forced to reveal that I'm a complete and total geek. This is one of those times.

I am incredibly pumped about the new Transformers movie. That cartoon was a Saturday-morning staple throughout my childhood, and trucks that can turn into giant, evil-fighting robots are undeniably cool.

I'm so excited, in fact, that I'm starting to think the new(ish) Nike Air Trainer "Transformers" -- inspired by the Autobots' fearless leader, "Optimus Prime" are stylish.

Sure, Nikes aren't exactly high fashion, the bold red, yellow and blue color combination makes them look more like a children's toy than anything intended for adults (not to mention that pointless plastic strap just below the laces), and placing the Transformer logo on the tongue of the shoe was certainly an uninspired choice.

But, all that aside, these are shoes inspired by the coolest cartoon show in the history of television (except for Thundercats and Heman), and that's gotta count for something.

Thinking about committing a crime, but hemming and hawing over what to wear when you do it? It's a tough decision, as -- just like when you're living within the boundaries of the law -- what you wear when ripping somebody off says a lot about you as a thief, and you want to send the right message.

My recommendation? Go with what the professionals use -- wear Nike.

British police are now using a Footwear Intelligence Technology system to create a database of footprints left at crime scenes, and they've subsequently learned that Nikes are by far the preferred choice by thieves, muggers, murderers, etc. The Air Max 95 was particularly popular, so if you're unsure about which Nike is right for your socially deviant activities, that's a safe bet.

As for the rest of your outfit, I'd recommend something in black -- especially if you'll be working at night. Happy thieving!

For better or for worse, women's tennis these days is as much about a player's looks as it is about her backhand.

At the moment, my favorite "fashionable" tennis player is Maria Sharapova. The blond Russian, who also moonlights as a spokesperson for Canon, showed up to her match against Severine Bremond of France on Thursday wearing an incredible white dress by Nike. The tiered skirt with distinctive ruffled angel wings along the back made the high performance outfit seem as street-worthy as it was court-worthy.

While the feminist in me hates to reduce talented female athletes to their looks, the fashionista in me says Maria's dress was a definite tennis DO!