crooked tongues magazine News Features

We've seen a lot of versions of this shoe lately but the adidas HUF Rod Laver Vintage from the Consortium line is the best so far. The Rod Laver is a great shoe, but we thought we might burn out on from an overdose since the blitz of Summer 2009. If this version had been in that rollout, we would have been all over it. The model's simplicity is actually a curse for potential collaborators - what exactly do you do to a shoe like this - what can you change? You can play with the lacestays, but truth be told, it looks better when they match the upper. This HUF effort from San Francisco's collaborative overlords is strong. Done right, grey and teal is the colourway of the gods, and while this might look unremarkable from a distance, there's a fair amount of detail on display during close inspection. Perforations, a padded lining, and flyest of all, a snakeskin effect heeltab all work in a certain restrained harmony to prove there's still some mileage in this silhouette.

We've had a faux reptile invasion from adidas lately, but we're still feeling it - some of our favourites utilised it, and here it's pretty subtle, considering the innate flamboyance of that patterning and texture. That tongue branding and undeniable cleanliness fits in nicely with the current seasons of Huf clothing, with the brand going from bolder Benny Gold creations as screenprints to something altogether more muted. Many brands fell by the wayside during the streetwear apocalypse of 2007, but HUF stayed ahead of the curve, and they get it very right indeed. There's definitely something in that hilly terrain that fuels creativity. As ever, it's a challenge to keep these pristine during a British summertime, but it's one well worth taking up, and these will take to denim or shorts with a certain ease. As part of an impending adidas Consortium trio with the Brooklyn Machine Works teamup and a premium Micropacer, these are in the Crooked Tongues store now.