crooked tongues magazine News Features

The shoe world is trying to bankrupt you. It's flinging decent retros, woven modern classics and cashing in on that wave of Olympic goodwill that's splashing around you at the moment. There's always that part of us that curses the Dream Team for being so presumptious, as Americans declare that they're unstoppable, but if you saw KD and LeBron perform on Sunday, you'll concede that the chemistry is there this summer. Not only have we seen a solid collection of retros of 1992-2004 Team USA Nike Basketball classics and a solid shoe that's getting London 2012 airtime (the Lunar Hyperdunk), but Kobe and LeBron's signature shoes, part 7 and 9 respectively have had an All American makeover and the low version of King James' release is ultra accessible — low but just high enough to be a perfect shorts shoe, finished with a navy 360 Air sole unit. Kobe's ultra-detailed signature shoe (we love that embedded Flywire in the ridged fabric is perfect for a classic palette like this rather than the usual wildlife inspirations. Those from non-US shores might feel like traitors with a pair on their foot, but we haven't been blown away by too many UK shoes on athletes' feet thus far, so we might ignore the small US branding and reappropriate these as Union Jack themed Team GB efforts. The French can do something similar too. Both these shoes are on sale in the Crooked Tongues store right now...