Johnny Knoxville Films Detroit Documentary

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Aug 20th 2010 at 4:01AM

Palladium, a heritage boot company that relaunched last year is hoping to aid another comeback, that of Detroit. The brand has created a bunch of "Exploration" campaigns, in which Palladium explores and documents hidden and abandoned urban places in search of unique stories. These Explorations are then turned into viral videos that live on their website and their latest features "Jackass" star Johnny Knoxville in Detroit.

In an exploration called 'Detroit Lives,' Knoxville puts on Palladium boots and checks out the city, which was once the fourth largest city in America but is now in the midst of a transformation from abandoned urban landscape back to a vibrant community. The trailer for the video above showcase the young people who are taking back the city and their community. The full video for 'Detroit Lives' premieres on August 30.

The challenging urban landscape also makes a nice backdrop for the boots. Palladium was founded in 1920 to make aircraft tires for the aviation industry. In 1947, after the end of WWII saw demand for tires dry up, Palladium turned to making rubber and canvas boots including the classic canvas Pampa boot. The sturdy boots for men and women sell for $50 to $275. The video is after the jump.

Tags: Detroit, johnny knoxville, palladium boots

Filed under: Shoes, Men's Style, Video

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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)

MTREE1 Aug 25th 2010 9:59PM

ME 2 50S/60S REMEMBER THE BOBLO BOAT?BELLISLE? J.L. HUDSEN CHRISTMASS PERADE? NORTH LAND? REDFORD HIGH? WHITE CASTELS? ELECTRIC BUSES,[FRANKLAND CIDER MILL? "68" WORLD SEARIES? WAS A GREAT PLACE TO GROW UP...IS A BAD PLACE TO BE FROM!!!!!!!!!

HighFive Aug 26th 2010 3:37PM

One thing is for sure, Detroit won't come back if everyone continues to "give up" on it. Such negative attitudes from the downtrodden who wish to complain about how Michigan did them wrong, and how life is better somewhere else. It's all the same sh*t wherever you go. Just remember, 90% of people are quitters and are lazy. 10% are positive and successful.

himynameismicah Aug 27th 2010 1:51PM

oh you are so wrong !! "its all the same shit wherever you go !!???" what the fuck are you on ... move to San francisco Ca .. and you will see it is most def NOT all the same .... things are much greener on this side of the country .. i lived there for my first 20 years .. its a SHIT HOLE .. and its always gonna be one !!

HighFive Aug 27th 2010 1:53PM

If you hate Detroit so much, why are you spending time looking up documentaries about its positive aspects - only to tear it down?

HighFive Aug 26th 2010 3:39PM

One thing is for sure, Detroit won't come back if everyone continues
to "give up" on it. Such negative attitudes from the downtrodden who
wish to complain about how Michigan did them wrong, and how life is
better somewhere else. It's all the same sh*t wherever you go. Just
remember, 90% of people are quitters and are lazy. 10% are positive
and successful.

HighFive Aug 27th 2010 1:56PM

If you hate Detroit so much, why are you spending your time looking for stories on its positive aspects - only to tear it down in front of people who care about it? Does that make you feel better about living in San Francisco? Surely there must be something better to do "where the grass is greener" than joining in on the "Detroit is a shit hole" bandwagon.

eschahfer@gmail.com Aug 31st 2010 9:16AM

All of these negative, racist naysayers are people who do not live in Detroit, have no interest in visiting nor any investment in the state of the city. But aren't they vocal?!? Tired of hearing about it! These miscreants spend all of their social time in Mom's basement in Oakland county, whilst making ridiculous observations about a place that they never actually go. The city is not as far away as they imagine, which is why they are so fearful of the "other" and of life in general. For shame!
Detroit is a vibrant, exciting place for those of us who actually live here. The best part about living in the city now is that you can spread out and make art here, as it is a very erm, affordable place to live.

Staying tuned to see more of this movie.

melissa Sep 10th 2010 12:04AM

I wouldn't generalize with the "oakland county" statement. Many people are pulling for the city and would love to see a turn around and experience the city as it were in the "glory days." Sure there is a lot of negativity coming from the suburbs as well, which can be hard to miscount because of the constant violence going on in detroit that seems to be a staple of the local news. I am from oakland county and love to go down to detroit for concerts, festivals, and sporting events and myself have never felt it to be a threatening place.. but lets be honest with ourselves here. Even though there are some living in the city that are enjoying "spreading out and making art" I would say the majority of people are probably tired of the corruption and violence. Simply put though...people from all over michigan and beyond enjoy aspects of Detroit and are willing to put in time to make it a better place. We cannot stereotype the suburbs... a lot of us truly care.

eschahfer@gmail.com Sep 10th 2010 8:41AM

Frankly, I find your deep devotion to the city a little suspect. You paint yourself as an exception to the people who come down here for sporting events only to use the city as a dumping ground / free-for-all whilst downtown? Well, that's nice... just rather unlikely? I'd tell you to stay home, but you know, we need the money :)

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