crooked tongues magazine News Features

For years we treated the adidas ZX Torsion designs as a no-go if you were looking to colour block them and try to apply your own identity to the shoe. This wasn't necessarily the case if you executed it right. We still think Patta's 7000 is overlooked. Our 9000 might have taken a spot of inspiration from other Torsion makeups, but we think we nailed it to some degree. Our in-house jury is out on the new styles with the super-size bar. Those uppers are awesome, but the sole is pretty goofy. And why to some of the uppers work so well? Because they use the old colourways.

This year we've seen some more cavalier 5000s and 8000s—these ZX 8000s are an indicator that the bolshier contrast of a neutral tone and some atomic colour pop continues into 2011. If you're a little more puritanical, just close your eyes and bear in mind that the ZX 380 makes a return next year, but for some reason, these still work. They break the laws we set for ourselves when we were Photoshopping as if our lives depended on it all those years ago, yet the power of the Torsion bar—sat at the heart of the shoe like the Autobot Matrix—allows for peculiar coordinations.

Chalk white colour on the upper, yet another reptile leather suede on the toebox and leather in lieu of Scotchlite isn't the usual blend for a lightweight, but that's pretty conventional alongside the lime tongue, lining, laces and outsole technology. That classic heel counter in nubuck and a black midsole even draws some Air Max 95 comparisons too. Not the usual variation but still, certainly far-from-crap. Torsion technology still has an unsurpassed weirdness that we still find fascinating and these are set for a January release.