crooked tongues magazine News Features

ASICS seem to be getting a their chunk of the current running shoe boom by giving the fans what they want. The ASICS Gel Saga line was never the kind of shoe we lost our minds over back in 1991 (it was far, far cheaper than a pair of Lytes or top tier Gel pieces), but it seems to have aged beautifully. Reliable, gimmick-free but carrying its own progressive identity that matches the currently popular New Balance 999 for looks, beyond subtle little flair moments like the letters on the midsole, the Gel Saga and Gel Saga II's colours were the true selling point — Jay in 'Clerks' knew the power of the purple/black and white edition and the blue, white and yellow was bananas too. Recently, Patta and 24Kilates brought out the very best in this shoe and somebody at ASICS' lifestyle department is crushing the colourways since the shoe came back after over a decade as a cult deadstock discovery on eBay and in dusty sports stores, resulting in the Knicks variation from earlier in the year. These black and infrared variarions are almost equally powerful, letting the shoe show its age by harking back to 1990 (a big year for infrared runners) with that palette but proving that even the everyday sneakers from that era were pretty remarkable compared to today's releases and that ASICS had some incredible designers back in the day. These arrive in the Crooked Tongues in the next few days...