crooked tongues magazine News Features

In stock: Click here to buy the adidas Consortium Zx700 Sneakersnstuff (Black) in the Crooked Tongues store now.

In stock: Click here to buy the adidas Consortium Woodwood Gazelle Vintage (Tan) in the Crooked Tongues store now.

In stock: Click here to buy the adidas Consortium Basket Profi (White) in the Crooked Tongues store now.

Women get a raw deal when it comes to trainers. Once, the ladies' makeups of runners and tennis shoes were just as good as their male equivalents. Then lines like Sleek came along (and sold a ton) and decided that women needed slimline versions of classics with pastels, pinks and extra elegance. We always hated that. Ladies make any shoe look better than it does on a male and adidas Originals' Consortium crew have noticed that there's a gap in the market at top tier, where female fans are still being treated as afterthoughts. Take a trio of great silhouettes, originally made for different athletic disciplines and give them to European partners who can make something special out of simplicity.

Sneakersnstuff give the underrated ZX 700 silhouette a luxury everyday luggage feel with the snake textures and suede and leather blend, plus a pleated take on the 3-Stripes and proof that a spot of contrast can go a long way. The always-reliable WOOD WOOD simplify the already simple Gazelle Vintage with a California desert themed sand shade and a cork sockliner (who would have thought 2012 would be the year of knitted and cork footwear?). adidas themselves rework the Basket Profi with some tactically deployed polka dot patterning and a cracked leather upper that gives this silhouette some excellent high-end hi-top aesthetics.

Consortium's made some interesting moves since its redux last winter and we hope these are the start of some equally thoughtful follow-up projects for an oft-neglected audience that's growing bigger by the day. These all arrive in the Crooked Tongues store early next month in sizes ranging from UK3.5 – 9. The tables have definitely turned, because we really, really need to squeeze our feet into a pair of those ZXs. A well executed antidote to the condescending horror of piss-poor pink-'em-and-shrink-'em design.

In stock: Click here to buy the adidas Consortium Zx700 Sneakersnstuff (Black) in the Crooked Tongues store now.

In stock: Click here to buy the adidas Consortium Woodwood Gazelle Vintage (Tan) in the Crooked Tongues store now.

In stock: Click here to buy the adidas Consortium Basket Profi (White) in the Crooked Tongues store now.