crooked tongues magazine News Features

When the first brace of Lenny's latest arrived in the Crooked Store we didn't actually know what they represented. Something about baseball grounds, but that seemed to be as far as it went. The black highs were tremendous though. The link between Futura and Rick Ross was conferred when we saw shots of Rawse rocking a pair, and they just seemed to carry a certain fuss-free greatness, with the gradual perforations and signature lettering on the outsole and the dubre...lace jewel...whatever you want to call it. It's a pleasant sign-of-the-times that the Futura AF1s are plentiful - bear in mind they're not even QS - and well-priced too. A decade ago these would've cost a trillion pounds, be limited to zero pairs and be co.jp. Thankfuckfully cooler-than-thou doesn't pay the bills - it just provokes cooing coverage, so these are out in big numbers for the masses.

The silver versions evoke some old limited edition Uptown classics, and black and white is especially classy. The tie-in apparel seems interesting too, and the Easter weekend's tie-in NYC stickball tournament looked fun. We weren't involved, otherwise we'd be making fools of ourselves, but it looked like glorified rounders. Just kidding. We still don't play that street art wackness, and writing on shoes is still lame, but when you're dealing with a legend you know it's going to be an exception to the rule - you can trust Futura to apply his aesthetic without resorting to cliche. He's a survivor who knows when to ditch a formula and when to bring it back, and these just feel fresh. Who would've thought applying baseball themes to a basketball shoe with the assistance of an artist would generate such cleanliness? Both are <a href= 'http://www.crookedtongues.com/store/footwear/nike/'>on sale now</a>.