crooked tongues magazine News Features

We tend to approach adidas Originals releases like this with trepidation. In our old age, we're not particularly interested in new Originals silhouettes — performance bangers like the D Rose 2 and other Crazy Light shoes of that lineage will always be welcome round these parts. The newer silhouettes with a trefoil that emerge from the gate with lifestyle in mind though? We're not so excited about that. Unless Kazuki's involved. That's mainly because those shoes with ...

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This shoe model gets mad love in the office. We see it get the (PRODUCT) RED treatment, this time round in the continuing relationship with Nike. (RED) is an endearing charitable approach to fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa by delivering funds to support programs that offer education and medication on the ground. It's all done without being too in your face about charitable giving; that’s doubled up with this Meriweather’s stealthy look. The Zoom Meriweather is a ...

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As base shoes go, the Converse All-Star is a tough one to innovate with. What can you do to it that hasn't been done yet? Unless you go the patterned route (and if you can stomach the colossal - for a Chuck - pricetag, the Missoni variations are amazing), there's not much territory left untrod. Go check their customisation options online if you don't believe us. But you know what was lacking? A Chuck that can take on this ...

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We're stupid late on these, but a premium 576 is always worthy of note. Back in the day, we were preoccupied with the UK-made efforts in these seemingly invincible leathers — the black boxed versions that used to crop up in the Flimby outlet were particularly potent and these carry that defiantly British spirit. Alongside the 577 (and those brown leather and pigskin versions of that model circa 2002 were mindblowing), this is a model that Flimby really made its ...

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Finally. We got our hands on some pairs of 998s for the store. We're fairly obsessed with this shoe. Not just because it evolved the range of technologies back in late 1992 with Abzorb, or because it had an oppressive pricetag (around $125) like the 1400 from a couple of years later down the line, but just because it's a perfect silhouette that embodies what the US New Balance factory does best. From the suede on the uppers ...

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Finding the LeBron 9 too slimline compared to previous installments? If you read the Q&A with LeBron and Jason Petrie that we upped last week, you'll know that the slightly slimmer denim movement that this decade instigated played its part there. But there's salvation for those who still like it loose with this double act of Nike Sportswear Quickstrike releases. While we know King James is one for a Griffey or the heavyweight Foamposite, we don't ...

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We warned you about these. From line art alone, we knew that these were some of the best shoes of the year and possibly some of the greatest takes on a suede PUMA basketball shoe ever - States, Suedes or Clydes. These shoes are perfect. There's barely any more to say on the matter. Any criticisms of sole units and Suede/States mashups are utterly moot. GORE-TEX PUMA States. We're infatuated. It's all in that combo of sensitive ...

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Nike LeBrons are a great shoe dynasty and there's so much going on in them that we needed a bit more explanation. So Mubi grilled LeBron James while he was here at the weekend to visit the London School of Basketball in Crystal Palace and got some questions answered on the subject of sneakers. We also interrogated the shoe's designer and all round good bloke, Jason Petrie about matters of smedium denim, foot protection and where the LeBron ...

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Fragment are always up to something.Hiroshi and the team had a day late last month where we seemed to see a lightning flash on a newly announced product every hour, but they do good things with Nike products. The Magma's never had overt branding since its 1981 debut (the Lava Dome and Approach were the more quintessentially Nike), so there was nothing on that front to cut off in the quest for minimalism. These Quickstrike versions take us ...

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Ah, the Air Jordan III. We’re deadlocked in the office, NBA style, between whether the IV supersedes the III in terms of design, but we love how this masterpiece took the reigns from Bruce Kilgore’s luxurious II and harnessed the newly designed Revolution (hence the mention of Revolution in the original Tinker Hatfield sketches) to create the link to the IV. There’s definitely a lineage in this shoe, but it has a personality all of its own ...

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Stateside, the mere mention of a celebrity like LeBron being in the locale could cause a roadblock. In the UK that fever's a little more containable, because basketball isn't our first language. That's not to say that LeBron's not a big deal though — it's just that his trip to London this weekend was a little more low key. In line with Nike's "Basketball Never Stops" campaign, the big man was here to maintain that ...

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Sometimes, it's all in the Approach. If you're going to cover the proto-ACG spectrum, then you'd be a fool to ignore the greatness of the Nike Approach. adidas's legendary Super Trekking set a standard in 1978 and New Balance's Vibram-soled Rainier Hiker was a perfect hybrid of sneaker and walking boot a few years later, but 1981's releases from Nike set off an avalanche that gave us some of the greatest sneakers ever. Our ...

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These are classy Quickstrikes. The Nike Pegasus 92 has been treated with a certain respect so far and those white and maize versions are timeless (even if a team member's pair got written off on their inaugural wear by some grease beneath a taxi seat), being a well executed retro of a shoe that resonates with a whole generation. Stripping it down for late 2011 with the Decon editions had us doing the Marge Simpson murmur, but these variations ...

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The Nike Blazer 73 is no shrinking violet but these shoes just go all out with the colours. We haven't seen anything like this since the heyday of hype, but these Quickstrike Nike Sportswear releases take a shoe that represents something quintessentially '70s and dumbs it down to the point where they're downright ignorant looking. Even the footbeds are lurid. Do you know what the strange thing is? They kind of work. Remember the Viotech Dunk Low Pro ...

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Nike’s SFB Boots got a cool reception to start, but that movement seems to be growing. That height, the sci-fi looks and the fact that the world was happy in hiking boots rather than the futuristic, lightweight feel of tactical footwear meant the Special Forces Boot never got its dues the first time around. Now people recognise. We don't know whether it's a weariness towards D-rings and Danner copies or the work of Nike Sportswear with the ...

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Sneaker movements are cyclical. Remember when you got tired of Mowabb colourways? They're back again for a generation that missed that slew of All Conditions Gear homages and on a Nike Sportswear Pegasus 92 silhouette. Is there much of a link beyond the fact this shoe dropped in an ACG heyday? No. Does it look good? It does and we salute the designers for a lack of speckles. Still, once this was a serious novelty - the Foot Locker exclusive ...

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We still don't think the world is ready for the Nike LeBron 9. In the quest to give everything a nickname, the blogsphere has already named these the "Scarface" edition because of those colours and those split shades on the tongue and their vague resemblance to the film's poster. We understand that there's a Miami connection in the current wave of releases (and the Freegums editions courtesy of the Miami-based artist and all-round nice dude are amazing ...

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It's nice to finally lay our hands on this book. We've said it time and time again — there's not enough deep documentation of PUMA archives when it comes to running shoes. We liked Sneaker Freaker's suede-lined Clyde book a while back, but their research on running is even more invaluable. Everybody's into content and story-driven product these days, but too many PUMA pieces were put out there on the assumption that they'd keep pace ...

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This is a Nike Sportswear project that split opinion in the office. We like a heated debate but here in the UK the Huarache runner has a certain aura. We remember it appearing and we recall it being adopted at street level pretty quickly. This, a shoe like no other, with no visible air and no swoosh, was desirable just for being different and amazing to look at. Nike's Huarache system was a huge punt — if you've listened ...

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Since the beginning of 2005 (literally, as anybody who spent their New Year's Eve awaiting some hype can testify), Consortium has given adidas a top tier playroom. There was the brilliance of the Superstar 35 collection's costly first wave, an impressive adicolor rollout for the following year then some casino-themed shoes that were...interesting...before the aZX collection kicked in to re-up our fandom. That's when the close knit collection of stores exploded into something bigger, with ...

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2013

• May (17)
• April (24)
• March (26)
• February (27)
• January (28)

crooked tongues magazine News Features

adidas Originals LQC Basketball

Nike Sportswear (PRODUCT) RED Zoom Meriweather

Converse Chuck Taylor High Hiker Pack

New Balance Made in England M576TCL

New Balance Made in the USA M998GB

Nike Sportswear LeBron James Air Force 1 Low & Air Max Conquer Quickstrike

PUMA Shadow Society GORE-TEX States

Nike Lebron 9: LeBron James & Jason Petrie Q&A

Nike Sportswear Fragment Magma pack

Air Jordan III Black/Cement Retro 2011

LeBron in London

Nike Sportswear Air Approach Mids

Nike Sportswear Gum Sole Decon Pegasus 92s

Nike Sportswear Multicoloured Blazer Hi & Low Vintage

Nike Sportswear SFB Boots for Winter 2011

Nike Sportswear Pegasus 92 Decon 'Mowabb'

Nike LeBron 9 White/Black/Red

Sneaker Freaker presents The PUMA Running Book

Nike Huarache Free 2012

adidas Consortium Tabula Rasa pack

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