Back when I first moved to Brooklyn in 2003, I stumbled upon #Niketalk and ended up meeting with a few members that helped show me the ropes of the NY sneaker scene. I was clueless at the time but after having spent a few weeks checking out the shops in Manhattan and a few in Brooklyn and Queens, there was no question as to which was my favorite shop – DQM (or Dave’s Quality Meats) was just an awesome store with a great theme and an awesome vibe. The owner, Dave Ortiz, was just a super nice dude who was always down to have a conversation. I didn’t buy much at the store, but every time I stopped by he’d make time to just shoot the shit. One of favorite pairs ever was designed by him: the DQM Air Max 90 ‘Bacons’. Shortly after they released, it took me a while to make it to his shop in time but when I did he told me he was down to his last pair (and it was my size!). I remember saying something to him like ‘are you going to miss these?’ And his reply – which I’ll never forget – was ‘nah, man, they’re just shoes.’ He put it into my perspective real quick. My DQM 90s are currently sitting on some crumbling soles, but the second version of DQMs (in this pic) are fully wearable and SUPER comfortable. @dqmnyc