adidas Torsion Racer Og

It's hard to quantify as to what bits hanging around your local specialist running stores are future icons. On a current browse, very few. Being spoilt for choice back in '91, many remember this design, but as a trend item, it was pushed aside by the more versatile entries like the Support and Guidance. The cutaway design was at odds with the sturdy framework that the more rugged runners were extolling, but made with races and marathons in mind, the fabric upper, extra elastic stretch and Torsion technology was an innovative touch, with enough eccentricity to crossover beyond the discerning few, but it remains a great shoe.

A strange choice for a return, on spotting the sample a while back we were moved to theatrically double take - the essence of the shoe is intact for sure, the Equipment branding has gone, replaced by the older Torsion branding, in line with a name change from Equipment Racing to Torsion Racer. A shame, because it separates it from a classic collective legacy that pushed sneaker design forwards light years without losing the essence of the brand. Those subtle slimline stripes on the outsole still carry more weight than any amount of neon and bizarre technologies, and EQT green is still the key element in any thinking person's choice of colourway. Not an easy shoe to pull off, but safe bets don't break necks like Trautmann. These do, so kudos to adidas Originals for bringing 'em back.