crooked tongues magazine News Features

First things first—the Nike Hyperfuse is a shoe that's going to change sneaker design. Nike like to broadcast these things in style too. Lately we've been getting all nostalgic for the Beaverton running experiments of the late '70s, where mesh was a breakthrough material in the quest to strip things down to the bare minimum. But mesh on a basketball shoe? We've seen it before, but they're not synonymous with the sport. You might have noticed that post-Flywire, basketball shoe design got pretty...ummm, well, pretty. Fuse technology is resilient enough for some hardcourt abuse, but this triple-layered technology, offering base, mesh, and where necessary, a skin, doesn't just breathe and flex—it looks good too.

That offers a whole 'nother world of colourway options. You saw Flywire invade the Nike rollout, added to silhouettes old and new post-Summer 2008, and Fuse is heading the same way. It was already showcased on the Nike Trainer 1.2 Mid last week, during the Nike/Jordan/Converse World Basketball Festival announcement in NYC. We've got a feature on its way regarding all the nitty-gritty from those few days.

For those given the opportunity to wear test these in Harlem's Rucker Park on Thursday—another legendary Nike press outing that allows lumbering journos and bloggers alike to pretend they've got game— the consensus was that they're extremely effective, but a little snug in the sizing department. As performance pieces slim down, and oodles of excess padding seems almost quaint, we've noticed that some releases are less prone to the true fit we assume Nike deliver. Get it right with the Hyperfuse, and it's a winner. Unlike our basketball abilities. Ever since the overlooked, but significantly less immediate Hyperflight last decade, the 'Hyper' prefix has been the harbinger of gloriously kinetic design too hyperactive to regress in any way, shape or form, bar the lettering on the rear. This is the best in the line to date.

The mesh-covered cutaways, matching midsoles—even the tongue branding, is meticulously executed. Basketball shoes don't have to be idiotic concept cars for the feet - they can look good too. It's been a long time since a shoe was showcased in so many colours prior to launch. The iD potential is immense. We're especially grateful for the visual clout, because we're unlikely to play basketball again until the next big Nike shindig. We will however, be flossing in these colourways with shorts and a tee over the coming months.