crooked tongues magazine News Features

How many times have we covered the Nike Free Run+ 2 on Crooked Tongues? Too many times to muster much more copy on it, but we still maintain that it's the best Free shoe ever (the Free Trail, original 5.0 and first Free Run are impressive shoes too) but this one was just flawless when it dropped in 2011 and the Free Run+ 3 never hit the same heights in terms of shape and design. Here, the subtly asymmetric laces, mildly tweaked Nike Free flex grooves and the precision cut human tendon tribute cutaways and overlays offered one of the finest biomechanical moments in the brand's history since the Air Max 95. But we've said all that before. We've also mentioned that this shoe helped lead the movement away from a retro preoccupation with its accessible shape, pick of colourways and transitional tech look that could be worn with denim and running gear alike. Our favourite colours were the blue and orange combo that briefly blew up and the city editions. This one brings the best of those colourways together to be the best makeup of the shoe to date. It's good to see this performance design become part of the Nike Sportswear line and with a ton of teal on it, via a few shades of the surprisingly subtle Atomic version of the greenish blue that looks magnificent on pretty much every shoe ever, from the printed underlay to the microsuede texture above it to the speckle on the sole. These are beautiful and they arrive in the CT store in the new year. A modern classic.