crooked tongues magazine News Features

Just when we thought the ASICS Gel Lyte III was going to be retired due to an excess of makeups and dual-brand variations, it came back in a major way. We Euro-folk (and with Patta's assistance) seemed to become besotted with it, seeing as it offered that rare mix of innovation, weirdness and a legacy with the coolest of kids and the leanest of athletes. We've actually had a stab at colouring this shoe, and it's deceptively ...

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There seems to be several different camps when it comes to opinions on Nike LeBrons. Our learned friend Nick believes that only the even numbers come up trumps, but we'll engage in spirited debate as to how much we love the Max Uptempo curves of the 7. That right there was one of the best Nikes of recent years. King James's bizarre very-public relocation guessing game made headlines this summer, but we're all about the shoes. Most ...

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The Cortez is Nike royalty. It's the capo of the whole footwear collection. We often take that dual density midsole for granted and forget that it was once a performance running shoe and a transitional piece between the Onitsuka Tiger Corsair (which Bill Bowerman helped develop) and Blue Ribbon Sports moving from Tiger distro to unleashing their own Nike footwear line. Truth be told, even nearly forty years on, it's still pretty much peerless. The shape has altered ...

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Alife's Everybody Hi has become their trademark model, with lots of Dunk in the mix, but some executions that have been more audacious than some of Nike's reworkings of a shoe that seems to have had every application under the sun thrown at it. The piping on the Patta mid-cut collaboration reinforced the the Vandal genes in this shoe, but this keeps on pushing that shoe's lo-fi but sci-fi look with a parachute-style ripstop fabric. It's ...

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Just before it gets Wookied as part of the adidas Originals Star Wars range, the Jogging High II maintains its dignity for this rough terrain colourway. This shoe was designed with some more testing jogging conditions in mind, so while some recent attempts to weld a hiker (after that New York times article, we're expecting even more of a brown leather avalanche for the next year or so) aesthetic have been like taking a Mogwai to water, this one ...

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We like a good Nike ACG boot. Superdomes, Goadomes (particularly in olive and army green), Rhyolites, Tarns and Ashikos all come Crooked approved, and after the 20th anniversary celebrations last year we were keen to see what was on its way. The very best All Conditions Gear pieces just seemed to spring from nowhere, and the Lunarpath ETW did just that, appearing as the Lunar Wood+ made an appearance with little fanfare. Lunarlon had long seemed like some fancy, dandyish ...

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Since we first took a look at the Nike Zoom Hyperfuse in this section of the site, we now know that Fuse technology is going to be a big focus in 2011. From day one, we were informed that it would enter cross training as well as the basketball side of the business, but it's set to bless contemporary performance pieces (like the Sweet Victory Lunar+) from other genres as well as some old Air favourites in coming months ...

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The Nike Lunar Wood+ is a new shoe that's carries a spot of mystique in the office. We weren't actually sure as to whether last winter's phenomenal TZ version in cahoots with Wood Wood was all we'd ever see of this model. To be honest—as much as we loved the shoe—we wanted it to be the one and only. A Lunarlon shoe based on '89's ACG Wildwood with a lowkey but hugely effective ...

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As long as there's white dancefloor marks on our shoes we'll keep banging on about Sunday's BBQ. Our footwear's still a little beat, so we're not stopping any time soon. Mr. Jeff Metal has been Crooked family for a long, long time, and his photography skills are superior, so we tapped him up to do us the honour of documenting the event for the duration. If a stern man in a La Coka Nostra t-shirt ...

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Every year we sweat a little, moan a lot and animatedly dispute the makings of a Crooked BBQ a few months in advance. This year we aimed high. We wanted David Rodigan on the decks, catering by Nando's and Dickies garments with our names on. Somewhat improbably, that came to pass for 2010. That's a good thing, because we've been slacking on our 10th anniversary celebrations so far, so this one had to be a good 'un ...

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How, given Nike's propensity for puntastic names, we haven't already seen a Lunar Eclipse shoe is a mystery, but here it is—a state-of-the-art, all-round running shoe that caps the brand's more specialist offerings. Expanding on the possibilities of the LunarGlide+, the Eclipse is a new flagship for this division of the brand (arguably—given Nike's origins—the most important division too), and it didn't disappoint. A few years back, the supportive pieces from the ...

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It's hard to preempt what's going to get Quickstrike treatment from Nike, but even with a distaste for the added off-colour to the midsoles, we think these are one of the best releases in a while. Where this distribution tier was engineered to push limited editions and more esoteric models on the reissue trail, this is a tried and tested favourite in a great makeup. It's surprisingly simple. While we Brits were robbed of a release for ...

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The Nike Air 180 got some extensive hype when it was reissued five years ago and the iD options remain overlooked all these years later. So what if it came back a little "geniefied" compared to the original? We remained fans. Whereas by that point the AM90 and BW had been given a plethora of treatments, the 180 runner's lifespan (in fact, the whole 180 system was never fully exploited in its day) was relatively short with a frugal ...

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There's a lot of footwear patriotism out there at the moment. If it's not a hairy-faced influx of lookbooks showing men being manly in rugged American environments, and an insistence on apparel made in the USA (minus the troubled Dov Charney's pervy streak), it's footwear like fellow Los Angeles dweller (after HUF HQ shifted to the city from SF) Darren Romanelli and his Americana celebrating All-Star Cup. Now the new HUF line is in on the ...

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Where were Nike Dunk makeups like this when we'd momentarily stopped caring about this model? Looking like a Dunk spent a night with the Vandal and one of the Imperial Guards from 'Return of the Jedi' there's burgundy for days on a rugged canvas version of the shoe in that more comfortable Zoom Air variation. Like the happy days of True Red SBs garnering attention, there's something about all red sneakers that sits somewhere between awesome and ...

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There was a time when Nike speckling a sole and using purples and greys with a blast of pop would make us run around excitedly, wondering, when, where, how many and how much. That time was 2002, when seeing an ACG-themed collection of Footscapes and more would send us into a shoe-induced mania. That formula has become a little played-out (though the QS Huarache trio was excellent), but occasionally a project drags us back in again. The joy of All ...

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The adidas Jogging High II always seemed to be designed for the hardcore in mind. Part of adidas's late '70s and early '80s magic was that the design boffins at work were making something for any discipline. And they were always killer. Handball and ping-pong got classics, so jogging— one of the most democratic of all sporting pastimes—was always going to result in weirdo classicism too. It was a silver age for sports footwear. Hi-top runners however are ...

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The Nike Delta Force is a perfect example of a shoe once considered mundane that seems to have aged remarkably well. While it was never an advanced creation on its 1987 debut (though the Air Delta Force from 1988 gave it some steroids in the design and technology department and 1989's Air Delta Force ST is a beast), it carries a certain charm. Sat around the $45 mark in the shadow of the soft leather and perforated panels of ...

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This adidas ZX 5000 represents a new breed of Originals makeups that gets it right without any thematic nuttiness. We just took delivery of these and the 'Craftsmanship' Forum Mid (one of the best Forums ever made), and for a brief second, these brought a glimmer of happiness to us, brightening our withered, blackened hearts. The ZX 5000 was never our favourite Torsion model in its heyday, just because in 1989, in our quest for cut-out grooves and Soft Cell ...

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We've been waiting on this one for a while now. The ACG name—as you will have gathered from past ramblings right here—stood for the best Nike output ever. While we've seen All Conditions Gear merge with Nike Sportswear's post—Tech Pack pieces of late, and a 20th anniversary blast of good footwear that took it back to the line's genesis circa. 1981 way before the offroad range got a catchy title, we'd been ...

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We left the whole socialising thing alone for a minute while we worked on the site and argued, but September's proving a big month for us on the events front. The Crooked Tongues 10th Anniversary BBQ is just weeks away, and is shaping up to be excellent (last year's "do" was pretty spectacular even if we do say so ourselves), but when New Balance approached us about a little something to coincide with the 576 Pub Pack's ...

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Undefeated know how to take a concept and take it all the way live. There's rarely a half-step in their approach to shoes, and the west coast don-dadas maintain that sporting approach to their output that feels at home with the intent behind the shoes they're reworking. We're fans. We also like old-style sweatshirts to the point where it can become unnerving, and we frequently daydream of a world where deadstock reverse-weave Champion crewnecks that don't ...

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The Nike SB Zoom Paul Rodriguez 4 High is a shoe that's set to instigate some strong opinions. Leaked lookbook shots months ago weren't the best of starts, making the angular rear look downright goofy—and we're not talking stances here. In the flesh, it's not nearly as peculiar looking. The green suede variation is genuinely banging, and this black on black variation is decent. The whole Aztec and Egyptian theme that's visible on the ...

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2013

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crooked tongues magazine News Features

ASICS Gel Lyte III 'Pastels'

Nike Air LeBron 8

Nike Cortez Nylon Granite/White

Alife Everybody Hi Toxic

adidas Jogging Hi II Brown

Nike ACG LunarPath

More Nike Zoom Hyperfuse makeups

More Nike Lunar Wood+ makeups

Crooked Tongues BBQ photos by Jeff Metal

The Crooked Tongues Tenth Anniversary BBQ

Nike LunarEclipse+

Blazer Hi Suede Vintage Gold/Sail

Nike Air 180 Black/Purple

HUF Star Collection

Dunk Hi Premium 'Dark Plum'

Nike Lunar Elite Trail Mid+

adidas Jogging High II

Nike Delta Force Hi

adidas ZX 5000

Nike ACG Air Escape

New Balance Pub Pack launch...

Undefeated x New Balance 574 Sonics

Nike SB Zoom Paul Rodriguez 4 High

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