crooked tongues magazine News Features

As long as adidas keeps bringing out an excellent ZX 8000 every month, we'll keep spotlighting them. Of course, as temperatures in the capital soar, an all-leather version of this lightweight 1988 classic seems a little masochistic. But these are set for September, when it's almost certain that our five days of summer will crash and burn, and mesh toeboxes and synthetic suede will be an ill-fated combo to take on an outing. It's bizarre that we still see sneakers desperately trying not to look like sneakers, with some formal shoe style instead. That can backfire, but these do the premium applications without trying to make the ZX 8000 look like anything other than a Torsion running shoe — for a shoe that's as recognisable as it is for the aqua and lemon yellow colourway as it is for that cutaway outsole and narrow shape it seems to still kill it when it's shifted from those visual comfort zones - that my friends, is the mark of a real design classic.

Are these hiking-inspired with that D-Ring? Workboot homages with the cherry red leather and contrast stitching? Work shoe influenced with the tan lining? We don't know. But while that leather's far from buttery, it's good quality and applied to be broken in. Trad and tech are being merged all over the place and the ZX 8000's plasticky heel counter rendered in leather is an example of that tedious trend done right for a change. We want to see more ZX 9000s, but between these and the EQT efforts of late, Torsion is getting treated properly when it's not being super sized. These arrive next month and are available to pre-order in the Crooked store right now...