Sole comfort

These delightful photographs are not from super-swish designer companies who hope you will spend your hard-earned cash on their shoes, though they could be. They are from Clarks, the down-to-earth English company founded in 1825, and US-based Hush Puppy founded in 1958. After years of being associated with totally un-hip schoolteacher and politician types, these "comfy brands" are now set to cash in on the greatest of all pre-millennial trends - "The Lifestyle Concept".

People who see jeans as "smart", who iron their designer T-shirts, collect trainers, and like nothing more than a shopping trip to the Gap, and a window shop at Calvin Klein will love them. So will weekend dressers. What's more, comfortable flat, urban shoes will be where it's at this season. So, chuck out your heels!

Hush Puppies launch the appropriately named "Lounge" at Selfridges in May. Lounge is a range of "slippers" designed to be worn out and about. This takes bedroom wear as street wear to a new dimension. Fluffy towelling mules in pale green, white and royal blue and moccasins in slate blue, (below) have all been designed especially for laid-back dudes to shuffle around urban streets. Design consultant for Hush Puppies Jeffrey Miller was inspired by odd- ball Manhattanites who, he says: "wear slippers absolutely everywhere." Let's hope dressing gowns and bed socks are next on their list for a revamp.

Clarks on the other hand have refined their classic styles, added a dash of urban savvy, and reintroduced their lace-up shoes, adventure sandals, and slip-ons to a new generation of twenty- something men and women who may well have worn Clarks shoes for school, but who wear them now with an element of irony.

Check out their colourful slip-on Neoprene sandals with adjustable velcro straps which start at pounds 12, the Volterra open-toed leather mule, pounds 29, (shown) and the Hodder shoe, (shown). The colonial style lace-up in cream or black suede with a rubber sole is as good as any designer shoe on the market - and you'll get change from a pounds 50 note for the lot.

WEBSITE

Tonight, those cool people at Casio G Shock in Japan are giving the clubbers of London, Paris, Milan and New York the chance to experience something totally unique. Junior Vasquez, friend of Madonna and one of the world's best DJs, will do a two-hour live set from the Twilo club in New York which will be transmitted via satellite to London's The Vibe club on Brick Lane, La Salle Wagram in Paris and The Base in Milan. The reason? G Shock, after creating Baby G, and G Shop, now want to be even more creative with the letter G and have set up the G Club, and G websites. The two websites, www.g-club.net and sister site www.g- shop.net, will provide up to date club and fashion information, with gossipy bits, trendy bits, listings, music reviews and even free tickets to club nights. Tonight's event will also feature DJs James Lavelle, Rennie Pilgrem and DJ Hype. For couch potatoes, the event will be transmitted live on the Internet site from 1am until 3am too. For further information and tickets call 0171-375 3513