crooked tongues magazine News Features

People have been calling the Nike Foamposite One a moonboot since it debuted in 1997. When we first clocked a pair of Penny's shoes in a late 1990's issue of 'The Source' complete with the 1-800-432-3061 number, we assumed these had dropped from space. They were just there. In their purest One form, they even ditched a hefty swoosh in favour of a tiny white spot of forefoot branding. What was Nike smoking? In the flesh, if you tapped up central London stockists shifting them at a hefty pricepoint, they looked even weirder. Of course, the Foamposite One is a model of normality compared to the Flightposite's lunacy, but just in case that original blue was too conservative, the Electrolime wasn't wild enough, or the Foamposite Pro in Copper or Electric Green was too subtle for you, maybe this Supernova colourway will fill a gap in your collection.

Created to tie in with the All-Star Weekend in Orlando from the 24th to the 26th of this month, we saw line art which whited out the shape, leading us to believe that there was a white Foam on the way. Then we saw a sample that looked like a 'What the Foamposite' with a tie-die mashup of previous colourways. Now we're seeing this shoe, which is set to arrive in the Crooked Tongues store as a Quickstrike alongside the other All-Star drops (including a the return of the Flight One), in its final form.

Once upon a time, the Foamposite was the domain of Harlemites and Washington DC heads, but we're seeing a gradual sprawl that's spreading the hype beyond the States. Where once you could grab a pair weeks after the launch in Bond Street House of Hoops, we're seeing supplies dry up, culminating in us finally being able to sell a style in the store. We still can't see the shoe converting too many folks. If you think this shoe's ugly and heavy, then that opinion's liable to remain, but the durable nature of the shoe, that perfect molded fit after a day or two's wear and that costly production process, plus the lack of a midsole in favour of extra footbed cushioning makes them a good everyday wear, if you can find a way to offset the bugged out looks with some simple apparel to downplay the astronaut aesthetic. Worldstar videos of crews rapping inanely about Eric Avar's otherworldly masterpiece, and a savage attack caught on camera that used the shoe as a weapon probably don't show it in the best light, but we still maintain that sneaker design lost its balls after the period of progressive insanity post-1997 that created some memorably anti-retro moments.

Ironically, the most progressive sneaker moment in recent history is now a retro staple, but even 2012 hasn't caught up with it. The Foamposite still has looks to last to infinity and beyond. Even in muted tones, the Foamposite is an obnoxious shoe — with a Galaxy on the upper, it's just awesome. Patrick Moore would approve of these. We hope, on their arrival into the earth's atmosphere in 3 weeks' time, the 'Remove Before Flight' tags that we saw in the leak Instagram shots are intact. Just to reiterate, the estimated drop date is 23.02.2012 in the Crooked store.