crooked tongues magazine News Features

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 fit like a peasant's smock, with a neck so vast, it could swallow galaxies.

Undefeated have been printing on contemporary Champion blanks recently, and their take on the sonically welded New Balance 574—a shoe that betrays that slightly limp look off the foot by looking tremendous when worn—offers a strange mix of eras, flipping an old world athletics look with something deeply contemporary. It's the marl grey and black cotton spirit of '88 remixed, offering a Champion 'C' influenced 'N' instead of the more anonymous embossed branding, and some synthetic suede. The greys win—we've seen a ton of flecked grey footwear over the months, but these feel a little more in-the-know. We're assuming that the 574's occasional appearances on the feet of hardcore kids rocking a 'C' on their hoodies is a coincidence, but it certainly gives these colourways some extra depth. Nice.