crooked tongues magazine News Features

We loved the Terminator back when it was the stuff of lore - vintage pairs in Tokyo, HOYAS player samples...the black sheep of 'Be True To Your School' campaign, and an almost militaristic, brutal looking silhouette - especially in that navy and grey. That magic may have been diminished a little, as it is with any model, when it was re released, and that shape just looked a little crazy next to other models on the shelf, though the forefoot still looks killer on a cursory peer down. It's the Memphis Bleek of the game in terms of support too...it gets a lot of play for something that borders on niche when it's not offered in an appropriately rugged SMU, or the original colour blocking; the Terminator's had a lot of salvation in terms of hiker-inspired salvation of late. Yet fragment and Nike Sportswear's interpretation of the shoe is simple but fairly dope, using the slightly new-fangled Zoom Air take.

Would we be on this if it wasn't Hiroshi-approved? Who the heck knows? The whole 'NOISE' capsule (appropriate given the Fragment logo) collection just looks so damned clean, down to the perforated swoosh, heel block lettering and perforated heel panel. The true challenge for such a simple makeup is whether they hold up without the yin of the black versions to complement 'em as a duo, and they're decent, providing you can accept this version of the shoe's shape, totally exposed in gleaming white. White noise might bring back flashbacks of Lou Reed at his absolute worst with his 'Metal Machine Music' (actually, on second thoughts, 'Mistrial' is the wackest of Lou's long-players) or lightweight scare flicks starring Michael Keaton, but as shoes go, these don't induce the nausea, headaches, or disorientation they do. In fact, and we're guessing that you're either down for the cause or alienated by the pared-down nature of these (the silver laces were supplied, though they're not a staff recommendation by any stretch of the imagination). Us? We think they're decent enough, but the model still holds a certain allure round these parts.