Thanks for the answers!
As for the thread, I would imagine many of us would find it more user-friendly to have separate threads for various brands, as the 'Shoes you're wearing' thread has a gadzillion posts and info tends to get lost. Also, this way it's easier to compare different models under each brand, which is also a thing. It's not like there are a 1000 different shoe brands that have enough user base to result in 1000 threads.