– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Previously on "Lace Up: The Ultimate Sneaker Challenge."

This is Pensole

Your challenge for this week, the Adidas Superstar.

Classic.

Um... I'm sorry.

Our concept doesn't make sense to me.

D'Wayne: How much was this accomplished without Desmond?

All of it?

Welcome, Anthony Anderson.

This could be a piece of shit,

but the way they sold that piece of shit to me,

- I bought it. - And the freshest kicks belong to...

- Bam! - The Nu Black.

♪ Hit it! ♪

Swoozie: Sneakers aren't just shoes.

They're a cultural phenomenon.

Andre: Sneakers are just, like,

the sexiest girl you've ever seen.

Swoozie: And today, they represent an industry

worth over $55 billion dollars worldwide.

This my baby right here.

Swoozie: Enter D'Wayne Edwards.

The former design director at Air Jordan has created kicks

for Carmelo Anthony, Derek Jeter,

and even Michael Jordan.

And now D'Wayne mentors the next generation

of great sneaker designers at Pensole,

the world's top footwear design academy.

He's bringing together 12 aspiring shoe designers

from all over the globe to compete for the opportunity of a lifetime...

♪ Take everything, leave 'em with nothing ♪

Swoozie: ...to create shoes for Adidas.

Each week, four teams of three

will compete to come up with one-of-a-kind kicks

inspired by a celebrity guest.

- I'm digging it. - I'm really impressed.

- You mastered it. - They made a low-cut water UGG.

Oh, that's a bad idea.

Swoozie: No eliminations, but no one is safe.

Don't start melting down.

( bleep )

We have to send you home.

Swoozie: After eight weeks,

the team of three with the best body of work wins.

And the freshest kicks of the competition belong to...

Swoozie: The winning shoe is being designed

for James Harden and Adidas.

My name is Swoozie, YouTube creator and sneakerhead.

I'll be your guide on this wild journey.

♪ All I wanna do is see my dreams come true ♪

♪ I believe it, I receive it ♪

♪ I proceed to get it crackin' ♪

This is the ultimate prize, the ultimate opportunity.

- You have to be relentless. - You got to be ready.

♪ Reaching for the stars, we don't stop until we get it ♪

♪ I believe, I believe, Mr. Kelly, I can fly ♪

Swoozie: This is "Lace Up: the Ultimate Sneaker Challenge."

♪ Wait up ♪

♪ Yes ♪

♪ Time to celebrate ♪

♪ Now put your glasses in the sky ♪

♪ Then look me in the eye ♪

♪ Together we made it ♪

Coming in this week, we just picked up the first win.

Confidence is 110 right now, but there's definitely some pressure

because you got the first one, and every team is kind of on your back.

Being at the bottom two, I did a lot of thinking.

My inspiration for coming to Pensole

was to provide a better life for my daughter,

and to let her down would be, like, very, very hard.

She got an award in school.

She had a really high score on a test.

Rebecca: Last week was terrible.

Tupac and Biggie?

That was Desmond's idea,

and it just didn't work out.

I am looking forward to the second week.

- Y'all ready to go? - Yeah.

All right.

- How you guys doing? - Great.

So, if I'm not mistaken,

Nu Black took the W. last week, right?

- Yes. - Vince, how do you feel, man?

- I feel real good. - That's-- that's it?

Real good? We got a W.

I'm good! We got this.

And, uh, Trifecta.

You guys didn't come out too hot on the last one.

It's clear what we have to fix,

and how we're gonna go about doing that,

and so I'm excited to see how this second week turns out.

Going into this week, our team knows that we have to step it up.

Our main thing is just really making sure that

we are all united in our storytelling.

You guys ready to meet your

celebrity this week?

All: Yes!

Okay.

This week's celebrity is

four-time Grammy award-winning

hip-hop artist, and he's a high-key sneakerhead.

Please say hello to Macklemore.

( all exclaiming )

How many sneakers would you say

that you have right now?

Two hundred and eighteen.

- Whoo! - Okay.

That's a very specific number, sir.

( all laughing )

And what do you look for particularly in a sneaker?

I look for traditional things.

Things that are gonna have a lasting,

classic, timeless appeal

that we can look back in 20 years and be like,

"That is what stood the test of time."

Before we go any further, teams,

I think we should throw a little twist

into the mix, and throw in

- some high-fashion. - Michael: Okay.

This might-- this might be something dope.

We might be, you know,

designing something crazy today.

Can I also introduce

supermodel Ashley Graham.

( all cheering )

- Hello, Ashley. - Hi, guys.

All: Hi.

Ashley Graham is awesome.

Her whole motto is pledging

body image acceptance,

accepting what you have and flaunting it.

So it's awesome to be doing a project for the both of them.

All right, D'Wayne,

so why don't you just catch them up real quick

on what they need to do for this week?

All right, this week's challenge

is to take a sneaker and high heel,

and combine them to create one brand new shoe.

Your presentation

is gonna include a runway show

featuring two looks.

One street-style, and one high-fashion.

So talk about your personal style a little bit, Ashley.

Being a beautiful, curvy woman,

I like to show off my shape.

I just think that every woman's type of body

is so beautiful, and she should be able

to show it off in a way that she wants to.

Also, the higher the heel the better.

I do not own one wedge.

I do not have cork shoes.

I think they are cheap-looking.

Zaneta: I like sneakers more than heels.

Just in case the zombie apocalypse ever happens,

I'd rather be running in my sneakers

than trying to tip-toe through heels, you know?

Do you have any personal do's and don'ts

that you would like for them to consider

as they're trying to properly blend both of your two worlds?

If you try to get too complex on the sneaker,

I think a heel's gonna look like

a bootleg add-on.

So how do you mesh those two worlds together?

It seems difficult in my head,

but I believe in you.

Excellent. Ashley, Macklemore, thanks, guys.

We'll see you in five days at presentation.

- Awesome. - Good luck, guys.

All: Thank you.

First step is getting the sneaker.

- Yes. - Head on to the front.

Swoozie: Early sneakers like the Converse All Star

and tennis and running shoes were worn for function,

but the Nike Cortez, Air Jordan, and the Superstar

helped bring fashion to the footwear game.

Now high-fashion brands and designers like Prada,

Gucci, Y-3, and Jeremy Scott

have taken the sneaker to the next level,

and the possibilities are endless.

What you see here in these boxes

are four performance shoes.

Last week the focus was more color and materials.

This week is color, materials, and design.

The Nu Black, since you won last week,

you get the opportunity to choose first.

Pick any one you want.

All right.

No pressure.

Box number three.

- I like that. - I like that.

- I like that. - Nice!

Vince: We got a really cool,

camo sneaker.

This seems to be a much higher level

of competition this week.

The good thing is that I'm extremely competitive.

- ( all laughing ) - Feel the energy.

Got to get that chi right.

- Interesting. - Mm.

Yes.

Analise: Nestor picked out

this really beautiful Boost,

but it was very sleek, it was sexy.

It kind of reminded me of

if Y-3 did, like, more pure female designs.

I really like this.

- Ooh! - Wow.

The shoe that we got was orange

and then kind of like this burgundy look to it,

and it had these really cool triangle patterns on it.

It was really beautiful,

so it's kind of like a little koi for us.

( all exclaiming )

( exclaiming )

We actually ended up getting the Stella McCartney Boost,

so super excited because that shoe is, like, beautiful.

There's gold, it's a comfortable shoe,

like, we were really stoked as a team.

All right, so as an advantage for The Nu Black winning,

you have the opportunity to choose

any shoe up here.

- What? - Oh, wow.

I knew it. I knew it.

I think I'm gonna take this guy.

( all exclaiming )

The shoe that we picked was cool at first,

but the shoe that we stole from Nestor's team,

it just had a lot of cool stuff to play with

as far as the zippers, the material.

So the next step, guys, is a big one.

We're gonna send you out into the field,

and you're gonna go to a women's store and get some heels.

- Nice, nice. - Ready?

- All: Yes - Let's hit it.

This week we have a really interesting challenge.

We're shopping for women's high heels

and merging them together with sneakers.

But Nestor tends to overthink,

and we have a lot of options.

Good point. Good point, my bro.

I like, personally, a bit of a chunk.

It definitely makes it more comfortable for walking around,

but it's not as visually appealing.

Teams, 15 minutes left.

Are you feeling the styles?

Is that a problem or no?

Why these?

I'm the male in this equation.

- Okay. - And, uh--

I'm referring to my two lovely ladies on my team.

- Right, right, right, right. - But I do like them.

My job is brand manager.

So I am, in a sense, a leader.

I might even try these on Rebecca.

These are super comfortable.

But taking a heel and using it with a sneaker,

even me saying it right now sounds weird and confusing.

- Awesome. All right, my man. - Thank you.

What is the name of this?

So this would be, like, a skinny,

and that would be, like, a fat one?

Talk to me, my man.

- You saw us steal the shoe. - Why this one?

The lines in it are kind of curvy, kind of sexy.

It just has that high-fashion feel to it already.

You're leaning more towards this one right now?

- Yeah, we got to-- - Hmm.

- Yeah. - Okay.

Let's see if we can go for two W's in a row.

- That's the plan, man. - All right, guys.

Let's pack it up. Head back to Pensole.

I feel like we really lucked out with our shoe.

There's a good base in which we can build off of.

- Yeah. - Extend some lines as far as structure

and form, like, in the back heels here.

Megan Ann: This week we are presenting our story as Perfect Imperfections.

It's really inspired by both Ashley Graham and Macklemore,

and the way they're able to take certain things about their life

that some people may see as imperfect,

and spinning in a way that is positive.

I thought it'd be cool to add that--

use this element to inspire, like,

a heel piece like this in the back.

Laurance: The struggle with last week

was us not agreeing on a concept or a story.

It was like we were all in a different path,

so it's critical this week that we work together as a team.

This is gonna look cool, you guys.

I'm so excited.

Yeah, I see huge opportunities here.

There's, um, sheer.

There's lots of nice options for color blocking.

Vince: The thing we've landed on immediately is The Skin I'm In.

It's all about sort of taking out the insecurities,

um, and exposing them and being proud of them.

Maybe if we had the platform in it

we could give the illusion of a skinny heel.

We're blending both the street and the high-end aspect,

where you have the street as your foundation,

but we're adding a gaiter which is gonna transform the shoe

to being more elegant and bougie if you want.

I'm gonna design, like, a boot, but more stylish.

Wow, you guys already cut that off?

Oh, that's a bad idea.

You know you're not getting another shoe, right?

I would recommend, do not manipulate your shoe.

You get one chance to cut it.

I wouldn't cut it now like that team over there.

They don't know if that's the right part they should've cut.

Nestor, I'm learning things get lost in translation,

between me and Nestor,

between D'Wayne and Nestor,

just between Nestor.

Right.

- Can't change it. - No.

Desmond: Ashley Graham and Macklemore,

they both, you know, struggle with insecurities.

They both broke barriers.

You know, her being the first plus-size model

to grace the cover of "Sports Illustrated."

Him as an independent artist having two number one records.

Telling the story of the shoe is my responsibility,

and I feel that I am doing a good job.

That's where I got to so far.

So how are you delivering it then?

'Cause we need more of a storytelling to it.

That's where, like, I was, like, stuck at.

That's why I had to leave, 'cause I was, like,

at, uh, a mental block.

It's up to you to drive materials

through our expertise.

So you have to learn how to grow your bitch bone--

- What? - Grow your bitch bone.

You have a certain amount of vertebrae in your back.

- Okay. - And 99% of those are bitch bones.

So here's where I'm going to scare you.

Most of the material that are marked with a green tag,

green is for go.

Orange is if you use this material,

I will rip the spine off of your body.

That's exactly what it says.

So we're just going to shut that shit down

early, early, early on.

Bitch bones.

( alarm beeping )

( beeping stops )

Megan Ann: I'll be completely honest, in the early mornings

I am even less coordinated than normal,

which is saying something.

If you ever need someone as comic relief,

just watch how clumsy I am.

♪ New shoes, new whip, new bag ♪

♪ Every time you see her she's bad ♪

♪ Yep, she's bad ♪

♪ Hair did, get money, new purse ♪

♪ Yeah, that girl go to work ♪

D'Wayne: I want to see where you guys are.

Okay, so we narrowed down our main story points

that we thought were most important from Ashley.

So we're celebrating flaws and body positivity.

Perfect Imperfections kind of ties in to a diamond,

kind of like a sexy flaw.

So the idea that she celebrates

beauty at every size.

Okay, um, design direction.

Taking the idea of celebrating your body,

we figured that we would try and reveal

as much of the foot as possible.

The main focus we wanted

to take from the shoe is that wire structure.

We're experimenting with how we can implement that in a unique way,

um, around the heel, behind the shoe.

I would want to see more exploration

on how you would do that,

but that's a good start.

We were watching her interviews,

and she basically talked about how she had to learn

to love her body and accept it

for the flaws and things like that.

So our concept is The Skin I'm In.

We obviously love the shoe a lot. We stole it.

But I said, "What's one thing about the shoe that you don't like?"

And, uh, we saw this.

Z was like, "I'm not even gonna include it."

So I was like, "Well, maybe instead of hiding it,

we actually accentuate it,

and there's a gaiter attachment.

It loops under, um, this arch area

and becomes more high-fashion.

D'Wayne: Okay. I like that.

Seeing that she mentioned to an interviewer

that she wanted to be a Russian spy,

we came up with the concept Kiss Of Death.

If she was a Bond girl, she would be from Russia.

Her name would be Thundra, and her weapon

would be The Kiss Of Death.

So what is she physically doing now?

Kung Fu and combat.

So she needs to bounce off the ground, okay.

What would you do with this, Nes?

That shoe has to stay on her foot.

That is not gonna help you.

I need you to solve problems.

Neither one of those work.

You're not solving problems.

You're thinking about aesthetics.

So you guys are gonna have to

focus on the function of what you need her to do.

We're building up the leg.

It's kind of giving that superhero-esque feel to it,

and just-- it also stabilizes the ankle.

We're working with making

one of these two parts being able to come off.

You know, Superman, he, like, changes into his outfit real quick,

and he's like, "I'm Superman now.

Not Clark Kent. You wouldn't know!"

We're naming our shoe Super Sexy Curvalicious.

We have a great story.

I'm excited about it.

There's superheroes involved,

and you can't go wrong with superheroes.

So who came up with the superhero part?

Whose idea was it for her to be a superhero?

- Catalina. - Desmond: That's weird because

I helped with the story, I helped with the name,

and even I helped with the designs.

All right, see you guys shortly.

Desmond: I am having trouble

trusting my teammates.

because it was, like, a team effort.

♪ Here we go ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

All right, teams, listen up.

Now it is time to pick some outfits for the runway show.

You've got to get two looks.

One high-fashion, inspired by Ashley Graham,

and one street wear inspired by Macklemore.

Since Macklemore is a guest judge,

I don't know if you guys know, but he had, like, a hit song,

"Thrift Shop"?

Guess where we're shopping today?

- Thrift shop. - At the thrift shop.

Pick your person to come shopping,

and let's take a walk.

- Hand wave! - They're accepting résumés

if you guys don't win this challenge.

- Oh! - ( laughing )

So this kind of ties in

a reflecting element, a diamond element.

Um, I used the color.

As a brand designer, my job

really comes down to storytelling.

I need this black, leather jacket right here. Yeah.

I have a background working as a stylist.

I know how to kind of build an image, build a story,

so I think that's really where my strength comes.

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

Nothing.

This could work.

A cool nineties feel to it.

I'm a guy. I'm shopping for a girl.

Throwing it in.

I rarely go to the thrift shop,

but little do they know I'ma bust it out.

This is definitely what I'm interested in.

Hello, hello.

You look sexy.

You should add the gold chain.

- Yeah, come here. - Yeah.

- No. - ( all laughing )

You look so good.

Oh, oh, oh, damn!

Damn, you look good.

You know, our entire product depends on

the process moving efficiently.

Yes!

Analise: But we still don't have the design.

Everyone knows that they need to be accountable

for the time that we spend.

I consider myself an artist.

So I'm going to design

a comic strip of Ashley Graham.

If I were to read this,

I don't really know where to look.

You do know-- there's different styles of doing comic books.

Well, yeah, I know that.

I don't think the storyline flows as well, though.

You're the only person that said that.

I think that Rebecca is a spoiled individual.

She seems to be, like, complaining for the sake of complaining.

There's so many boxes. Like, your eyes get distracted.

Then when she don't get her way, she likes to have a hissy fit.

D'Wayne: What's the problem?

We're still having a problem with Desmond.

Like, we've had to, pretty much hand-hold him,

and it's just getting to the point where

I don't want to be brand manager.

She doesn't want to be brand manager,

and we can't be always the ones,

like, having to come up with the stories.

Uh, what has he contributed to the stories?

Facts, but he doesn't do the value behind the facts.

And we can have a story, and I know if, like,

if we put the time into it,

we could, like, definitely

create a solid story, like, more than what we could have

just giving it to Desmond.

Let me-- let me--

let me let some stuff marinate.

♪ Let me hear you say ♪

♪ Pump to the bump and grind ♪

♪ Let me hear you say ♪

♪ Pump to the bump and grind ♪

D'Wayne: Today they have to turn over

the necessary designs to their shoemaker.

Where y'all at?

- A strap? - Yeah.

For what?

D'Wayne: Nestor continues to struggle

with what he would want to do

versus what is right for the consumer.

100% agreed,

but you need to get over that part.

If you can't take this,

you ain't cut out to be in this industry, dude.

You got to think about the shoe, dawg.

'Cause if not, we gonna lose,

and I'm not losing this week.

( bleep ) no.

Vince: I'm being told we're

we're making it look too easy.

Who said that?

Somebody said that.

- Really? - And I was, like,

- Andre: It's not-- - No.

Andre: I think the best part about our team

is that me, Vince, and Zaneta

kind of think on the same wavelength.

The full design is finished, and we're onto putting our

presentation together at this point.

We follow directions.

- We listen closely. - Yeah.

We're not emotionally attached, too.

- Right. - You know, like,

I don't know if they want to outright say it,

but I think other groups, they're getting a little envious.

You know, there might be a little side-eye going on.

D, let me talk to you for a little bit.

- Okay. - All right.

Have a seat, man.

So I want to have a conversation with you.

A real conversation with you, all right?

- Okay. - When we assemble the class,

it's very specific.

Someone for marketing, someone for design,

and someone for CM.

If they're counting on you to do something

and you can't deliver it,

then they got to do all the work.

What I can see from a design point of view,

you are more graphic inclined.

- Right. - It's not on the brand and marketing side.

And we need that side to be strong.

I want to make sure

I put you in the best possible position to succeed

and do what you need to do.

So, um--

the trouble I have, though,

is it's not here.

Ultimately, we do have to send you home, dude.

And it's not a direct reflection on you as an individual.

It's just a fit.

I know it ain't the easiest thing to swallow, but--

- I'll be fine, though. - Of course you will.

Thank you.

D'Wayne: We were specifically looking

for brand designers with the ability to

create a vision, and ultimately

paint that picture into a story.

In the case of Desmond,

the fit just didn't work.

Good luck, bro.

- Let me know. - All right.

All right, bro.

Coming to Pensole,

being far away from my daughter

was a tough decision.

I do feel as though I wasn't paired with the right team.

- Nestor Phan! - Thank you, man.

Desmond: Rebecca and Catalina,

they will probably struggle, because communicating

and getting their message across to the crowd

will be a tough challenge.

I don't have no regrets. I wish them the best.

- Take it easy, bro. - You, too.

All right, man.

( sighs )

♪ Look, it's a cold world ♪

♪ Better bring your coat ♪

♪ Your gun and your god ♪

♪ Better bring 'em both ♪

♪ Creatures in the dark ♪

♪ Looking for a host ♪

♪ Focus on the dying hope ♪

♪ Preying on the broke ♪

Rebecca: I have one thing to do. The sole.

It's like I'm just trying to get this smooth transition into it

and sand it down, but it's taking forever.

♪ Looking for a problem ♪

♪ You ain't never seen ♪

♪ Nothing like this ♪

Going into presentation,

we've yet to see the physical product yet

because we're still doing last-minute detailing.

I'm a little bit worried

about what the finished product

is gonna look like.

♪ Somebody like me ♪

♪ Like me, like me ♪

Zaneta: It's really draining trying to

get these design lines to work.

Presentation's tomorrow.

We don't have a lot of time left.

So it's down to the wire.

I am mentally exhausted.

♪ Looking for a problem ♪

♪ You ain't never seen nothing like me ♪

♪ Like me, like me ♪

I'm still working on the color, man.

- I just got the line art today. - We don't need color right now.

Our presentation is tomorrow.

We still have a lot to do. We're definitely behind.

It's definitely a race to the finish

where you got to meet your deadlines.

♪ You ain't never seen nothing like me ♪

♪ Like me, like me ♪

Why are your heads down?

- Cheer up a little bit. - Hi!

Come on.

Vince: It's week two in presentation.

We were able to sort of get a win last week,

but that doesn't mean anything, like, we just

got to go and try to impress the judges every single week.

Welcome teams to your second presentation.

Ashley: Uh-oh. Somebody's missing.

Dun-dun-dun!

( all laughing )

It's kind of, like, glaring at us.

A little bit.

The Hype, you're down Desmond,

but I wouldn't expect anything less than your best effort,

so I expect to see it tonight.

Rebecca: This week was really hard on us,

but I'm excited about our shoe.

Catalina and I put so much work into this project.

So students, this week there's no Swoozie.

So I'll be your emcee.

Just smile?

All right.

As you can see, there's four judges this week.

Myself, Kerry Speake.

- Hi, guys. - She is the senior director

for women's creative direction at Adidas.

We also have four-time, Grammy-winning

recording artist and fellow sneakerhead like myself.

He specifically has 218 pairs of kicks.

- Macklemore. - ( all cheering )

We have supermodel, author, body activist,

as well as designer, Miss Ashley Graham.

Just a reminder, you guys are ultimately

competing for the opportunity to work at Adidas.

So their goal this week was to take a high heel

that's traditionally not known for its function and comfort--

- Don't I know that. - Absolutely.

And they had to make more of a performance-fashion high heel.

I'm really curious about the sneaker to heel moment.

I don't know that I've seen it done exceedingly well.

- Yeah. - Definitely not an easy task

to take the two worlds and meld them into one shoe.

( all laughing )

So the Nu Black, you're up. Let's go.

Megan: I think The Nu Black is just really good at communicating.

I think we learned from them to see

how they were able to support each other

and hopefully that shows in the product.

The name of our project is The Skin I'm In.

Obviously, Ashley, inspired by you.

To us, you're the Beyoncé of body confidence.

- Ooh! - Almost effortlessly.

You know, you shake off the haters, the Internet trolls,

and at the same time you spread positive messages about body image to women,

proudly shouting, "To hell with your beauty standards."

- Yeah! - And, Macklemore,

one of the coldest white boys

I ever been in the presence of.

- I'll be honest with you. - Yeah.

But you, the same way as Ashley,

you just seamlessly intertwine cultural messages,

positive affirmations in your music,

so both of you together, you've had to overcome a lot,

and being comfortable in the skin you're in

is what got you to where you are.

So with this project, we looked at our shoe

and we looked at the imperfections,

and instead of hiding them,

we choose to expose them,

accept them, show them off, and love them.

If I remember, Miss Ashley,

you said you wanted a shoe where you're able to wear it--

was it at young lady's event as well as a lingerie shoot?

- Yep. - And, Mr. Macklemore,

this shoe has to be able to come

from the streets to the runway, correct?

So these sound like two different events.

Two different extremes, but nobody has time

to make two different shoes,

so instead of doing all that, we made one shoe

where we give you the ability

to switch it up to whichever look that you want.

and we achieved this by making a gaiter.

Basically what I did was I cut out stencils of the camo,

used that as an underlay and started spraying

the different colors and starting to build off that.

It's a sexy, classy, comfy shoe

that's gonna have a confidence that walks in the room

far before you do.

I hope you enjoy.

- Thank you. - Wow.

( gasps ) Oh, my gosh.

Oh, my goodness.

It is really cool.

- Like this? - Yeah, that's it.

Oh, that's great.

I tell you what, I don't want to speak for you

but for me, this whole, like,

turning a sneaker into a heel, you mastered it.

I mean, this is amazing.

Kerry: I agree with Ashley, like,

just stylistically it's really beautiful.

I think you guys delivered on that balance

of sexy and elegant.

Macklemore: I don't know if you guys are

working with specific colors of bottoms,

but matching these two--

That was actually the bottom off that.

- It's the original. - Oh, it was.

'Cause it does feel kind of weird

to have the different color kind of camo.

The black and white and then the nude up here,

but overall I think that

you guys did-- did your thing.

- Good job. Take your seats. - Thank you.

- Thank you, guys. - ( applause )

D'Wayne: All right, The Blueprint. Let's see what you have.

Analise: This week I wasn't feeling that confident

in our team shoe because it's difficult

when you have to wait for someone.

I definitely feel nervous.

We are The Blueprint,

and our concept for this week

is the Kiss Of Death.

Ashley said that she would like to be a Bond girl,

and her killer move would be to kiss people to death.

Am I correct?

- Oh, she just did it. - Oh, oh!

Look, I almost died just then.

- Um... - ( all laughing )

So our version of the kiss of death is a kiss

that kills the old way of thinking

in the modeling industry

and in the music industry,

which you both came through and created diversity

and made a change.

So we're calling you guys agents of change.

And the shoe that we created for you,

we had to take this heel,

combine it with legendary NMD,

so you could be on a whole other level.

Let's talk about some of the colors.

In the Ariaprene Pro, we have integrated the camo

from the original NMD.

We used a matte black and the venom on top,

almost like a double camo.

Lastly, we can't forget about the Boost.

So whether you're punching, kicking, the Boost is there

so you can always bounce back.

- Thank you. - All right, agents,

here's your brief.

- Wow. - Nice.

Ashley: It's so outside of the box,

but it still has such, like, a high-end feel to it.

It would be a shoe that I wouldn't personally buy,

but if somebody put it on me, I know that I would rock it.

I think there's a lot of imagination in here

but the colorway is not my favorite.

It's just a little over the top,

and I would've just toned it back to, you know,

kind of bring it all together and center it.

- I love the spy concept. - It's really good.

I mean, you thought outside the box.

They didn't go for the normal curve or body

or whatever you thought of a character.

You created a whole scenario.

That was really awesome.

Good job. Nice.

The Hype is up next.

Rebecca: We're really quite excited

to present to Macklemore and Ashley.

We have a great story, great shoe.

We've worked tremendous hours on this and gave it our all.

Ashley, you're walking down the sidewalk,

- when all of a sudden, - Ring, ring!

It's Macklemore here.

( all laughing )

We have a situation. We need your help.

And just like that,

Ashley dashes through the scene,

changing into her alter ego.

Catalina: Sexy, Super Curvalicious.

( all laughing )

Rebecca: We started out with a short kind of heel.

I was going for more of a Ashley Instagram type of a look.

It was not working,

and it was 2:00 am at this point,

and we were just balls deep in it.

We couldn't think of anything more--

Talk more about the "balls deep" thing.

- Yeah. - Anyways, um--

then Catalina with her cute accent, she's like,

"We just need to go for it."

So, as a challenge...

This is the first part of your shoe,

and you're just strolling down the street,

and you have the sneaker on you,

and then you get a call again from Macklemore.

So you need to race to the scene.

You have to strap it on quick,

so we have a zipper going all the way up to the front.

You have your extra cushion

just so that you can get there faster.

And we've also made the sole a little bit thicker

so that it distributes the weight a little bit better.

I see you with the capes. You guys did a good job!

- Wow! - Damn.

So here's your leg.

Okay, thank you.

( all laughing )

Right, in case you needed another one.

Wow. I have a comic!

Yeah, you have your own comic book.

These presentations!

I want to cry!

Oh, my God.

This is the part that I really like the most

is that there is a zipper, but it can be opened

depending on how big or small the leg is, right?

It's definitely very wearable, and I like it,

and I would definitely wear it.

- Would you wear this? - I would wear this.

- Yeah! - ( all laughing )

This makes me want to hoop.

And this makes me want to go out.

- D'Wayne: Right? - ( all laughing )

I'm really impressed.

You guys killed this challenge.

D'Wayne: Being down one, you guys did a great job,

but I will have to give you a little bit on the balls--

- was it deep? - Yeah, sorry about that.

High? What was it? I can't remember what it was.

I know I don't want to be there,

- Yeah, yeah. - whatever that is.

Just be conscious of the words that come out of your mouth.

It was my favorite part.

( all laughing )

- Yeah. - D'Wayne: All right, so,

to close us out, Trifecta.

I think I'm sold on the shoe and the concept,

but I can't lie,

I'm a little bit worried about the presentation.

The other three groups did a good job

setting the bar high.

So coming in as the last group,

we got to knock it out, pretty much.

We were tasked with reinventing

two of the most iconic pieces of footwear--

the running sneaker into a classic stiletto.

What's a symbol of perfection?

To us it was a diamond.

But what makes diamonds really interesting

is when they're not perfect.

It's about celebrating flaws.

So our color inspiration is actually influenced

by how light hits a diamond.

So depending on the angle and the intensity of the light,

depends on a certain color that you see.

So I'm gonna talk from our first prototype--

- Don't look too scared-- - First prototype.

It looks way better than-- first prototype.

The outsole is made from a stretch web rubber

which houses the Boost midsole for cushioning.

As far as, like, the heel, the toe, and the perimeter,

that's made of a pebbled suede

to give you that luxurious feel, flexibility.

The heel cap has that shine

like we were talking about with the diamonds.

The knit ankle collar for a tight fit

and breathable support, and of course we had to include

that Boost midsole so that you can walk

in your high heels throughout the whole day.

So we hope you really like it.

- Wow. - Thank you.

Now this is, like, very Stella McCartney.

I like that it kind of looks like a sneaker still.

It's definitely a specialty shoe,

but in the best kind of way.

My only criticism is seeing the prototype.

For me, like, if I'm making a song,

when my song is done,

I don't go back and show people rough drafts.

Because in a way,

I kind of like this color way more.

- Mmm. - And then I think

it lessens the impact of your final product.

You guys did deliver a really compelling design.

- Nice work. - Yay!

( applause )

Ashley: I do have to say one thing,

it's one thing to see

all the prototypes here in person,

but it's a whole other thing to see them actually in action.

Oh, absolutely.

They were also tasked

to put on a little bit of a fashion show for you.

- Ooh! - A fashion show.

We'll start off with the street wear look first,

and then we'll roll right into the high-fashion part.

Let's start the runway show.

( music playing )

Our shoe on the model looked amazing.

I'm hoping Ashley notices that

we blended the two worlds very well,

and I'm just hoping Macklemore notices

that it's cool enough to be considered street.

( chuckles )

When the model came out and they changed the lighting,

you see that camo stand out,

I think that made, like, a whole lot of difference.

Our shoe-- our shoe was ( bleep ) dope.

Rebecca: Our model, I'm really hoping that she's not gonna trip,

because we have the bottom sole of it on there,

and I'm like, "Oh, that's gonna make it hard to walk in."

It was a little nerve-wracking.

It looks amazing. It actually looks sexy,

and it's functional.

Hopefully they both love it.

( cheering )

You guys did a really good job.

- Yes. - You really did.

D'Wayne: So now the hard part comes.

We have to excuse you guys for a few minutes

while we have a little bit of deliberation

and conversation amongst ourselves.

Thank you guys very much.

Now the tough part begins.

So we have Nu Black.

To me it was night and day seeing it here like this.

But then when I saw it walk down the runway,

I could not see myself in this shoe.

That's the power of putting it on the consumer's foot.

There's something simplistic about this, between the colorway

and just kind of the sporty upper.

This has definitely grown on me, and I did not think

that I would be saying that right now whatsoever.

It's a little clunky.

It's maybe not what you would typically expect

for a high heel for most body types.

I think the model struggled a little bit.

D'Wayne: Blueprint?

Ashley: This is a confusing shoe to me

because it has too many things on it.

Take a few things away and I really like this shoe.

Macklemore: I think it's a really innovative design.

I think that they pushed the boundaries.

But would I go to a store and pick this out

for my girl to wear?

- No. - D'Wayne: The Hype?

Macklemore: There's something about seeing this up close.

You see the craftsmanship.

You see how nice this mesh actually is.

And further away, because of the color, I think, it looks cheap.

The presentation was really great.

They're down a member.

Nobody else put all the time into the lace

and into the zipper.

The mesh did look a little cheap out there,

but the leather is so beautiful.

I like the chance that they took.

Different than the other designs here

is if you remove the story, this doesn't look like this.

They went in. They made a superhero.

- Trifecta. - ♪ Trifecta ♪

This is hard because their presentation wasn't as strong.

But then they made a really great shoe!

- Yeah. - I like this.

I think that this is really clean.

This, again, to me, looks like something--

I see it at a store.

If anything, I would say it might lack some imagination

of the other ones, but not a lot.

I could see myself wearing this shoe.

And it's definitely my vibe of colors.

The only thing for me was really just bringing out the imperfection.

It's almost too perfect.

They achieved that a little bit with the sole,

but that was really it.

Are you guys ready for--

bring 'em back in?

- Yes. - Let's bring 'em back.

- Okay. Let's do it. - Let's do it.

All right, how you guys doing?

- Good. - Good?

It took us a little while

to get to a conclusion.

But the two teams that will step forward tonight

will be Trifecta...

and The Hype.

Nu Black, The Blueprint,

please take your seats.

The Hype and Trifecta,

you guys were the two best teams this week.

Trifecta, the presentation wasn't the smoothest,

but we really did love the design itself.

The Hype, even though you guys were short one person,

you didn't look that way.

You guys took a chance

and what I loved the most about it

was without your theme,

your shoe wouldn't look the way it does.

Huge, huge thank you to you guys for delivering.

You guys both did an amazing job.

So, Ashley? Ben?

Well, I'm nervous.

- I'm nervous, too. - I'm nervous.

I don't know why I'm nervous.

This week, the team with the freshest kicks...

Is...

Trifecta!

Congratulations!

Compared to last week,

it's nice to see that we've improved.

Coming out last in the last week

and then coming out first this week

is a dramatic difference.

It's just so crazy to think

that we've gone so far so quick.

I think part of it, too,

is we've just grown so much so quickly.

I still can't believe we won.

Thank you very much. Take care.

It is disappointing. It is frustrating.

But we can just get better from here.

We can just push it farther.

I'm going to put everything I have into it.

Next time on "Lace Up: The Ultimate Sneaker Challenge"...

Give it up for Mr. Fetty Wap!

- I'm digging it. - You have a new teammate.

- Oh, shit. - Action.

You're gonna be shooting your music video

with Jesse Wellens.

The video? Not appropriate.

That was bad.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
challenge /ˈtʃæl.ɪndʒ/ B1	noun - a task or situation that tests someone's abilities
classic /ˈklæs.ɪk/ A2	adjective - regarded as one of the best of its kind
concept /ˈkɒn.sept/ B1	noun - an abstract idea; a general notion
accomplished /əˈkɒm.plɪʃt/ B2	verb - to successfully achieve or complete something
freshest /ˈfreʃ.ɪst/ B1	adjective - most stylish or up-to-date
cultural /ˈkʌl.tʃər.əl/ B1	adjective - relating to the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a society
phenomenon /fɪˈnɒm.ɪ.nən/ C1	noun - a remarkable person, thing, or event
industry /ˈɪn.dʌs.tri/ B1	noun - economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods in factories
designers /dɪˈzaɪ.nərz/ B1	noun - people who plan the look or function of something
academy /əˈkæd.ə.mi/ B2	noun - a place of study for special training
aspiring /əˈspaɪ.rɪŋ/ B2	adjective - having ambitions to achieve something
compete /kəmˈpiːt/ B1	verb - to try to win against others
opportunity /ˌɒp.əˈtjuː.nɪ.ti/ B1	noun - a chance to do something
relentless /rɪˈlent.ləs/ C1	adjective - determined; not giving up easily
inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈreɪ.ʃən/ B2	noun - the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative

Key Grammar Structures

• I’m having trouble trusting my teammates because it was, like, a team effort.

  ➔ Present Continuous (Progressive) + because‑clause

  ➔ "**having** trouble" shows the progressive aspect, indicating a temporary situation.

• If you can’t take this, you ain’t cut out to be in this industry, dude.

  ➔ First Conditional (If + present simple, will‑less result) + informal negative contraction "ain’t"

  ➔ "**can’t**" is the negative present form in the if‑clause; "**ain’t**" is an informal negative for "are not".

• We have to turn over the necessary designs to their shoemaker.

  ➔ Modal verb "have to" + infinitive (obligation)

  ➔ "**have to**" expresses a strong obligation; the verb that follows is in its base form "**turn**".

• The shoe that we created for you, we had to take this heel, combine it with legendary NMD.

  ➔ Defining relative clause (that we created for you)

  ➔ "**that**" introduces a relative clause giving essential information about "the shoe".

• We’ve learned from them to see how they were able to support each other.

  ➔ Present perfect simple + infinitive of purpose

  ➔ "**We’ve learned**" uses present perfect to express experience up to now; "**to see**" shows the purpose of the learning.

• I’m going to be your guide on this wild journey.

  ➔ Future intention with "going to" + infinitive

  ➔ "**going to be**" indicates a planned future action; the verb "**be**" follows the modal "going to".

• I don’t know if you guys are working with specific colors of bottoms, but matching these two— that was actually the bottom off that.

  ➔ Indirect yes/no question (I don’t know if…) + present progressive

  ➔ "**don’t know if**" introduces an indirect question; "**are working**" is present progressive indicating an ongoing action.

• We’re building up the leg. It's kind of giving that superhero‑esque feel to it.

  ➔ Present progressive for ongoing process + present simple for descriptive state

  ➔ "**We’re building**" uses present progressive to show an active, unfolding activity; "**It's kind of giving**" uses present simple to describe the effect.