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 hard. You wouldn't think it, but that technical aspect leaves it open to becoming outlandishly busy. At one point, our friend in NYC Mr. Ronnie Fieg's bolder creations seemed to be at odds with the more gentile, original blueprint favoured by Euro-heads, who prefer a colour pop over an bolder explosion. Even the staunchest E-critics can't knock the recent brace of David Z colourways, and the popularity of recent retailer and brand (with a few friends brought along too) creations seems to be giving the Gel Lyte its third wave of popularity.

Picking a mesh toebox over a perforated leather, suede or nubuck has been a frequent argument around these parts. On some shoes it works and other times—particularly if your aim is to project a premium feel—it doesn't. We've featured these on the news before, but the photos sucked—they made the Pearl White/Whites look a bit like Pattas that had faded on a windowsill. The pastel shades blended with more no-nonsense colours here mean the open-weave and glossier meshes on the toeboxes here make sense, keeping each colourways light, albeit a teeny bit unseasonal in their delicacy. Anyway, enough of the waffling—Gel Lyte IIIs aren't going away anytime soon, and as inline variations go, these are minty-fresh in their executions. We never thought we'd ever live to see an ASICS performance runner become hype fodder, but it's a heartening turn-of-events given the usual reign of the dreck. These go live in the Crooked Tongues store tonight...