Sneakers
Sunday January 17th 2010
YEEZY
This isn't a shoe that would top everyone's list, but there's no denying the impact this towering hightop created. Like a tidal wave of hype, Kanye's baby rolled across continents fuelling stampedes and first class fiending everywhere it lobbed. Love it or hate it, and many did both, no recollection of 2009 could possibly discount the Yeezy as numero uno! Kudos to Nike for keeping it real and leaving the Yeez as a one-off experiment in human behaviour.
Who else could have created such a beast?
NB850 x SNEAKER FREAKER SKIPPY
Modesty prevents us from picking this one as outright favorite but if anyone is going to toot our horn, it may as well be us. In a year when eighties running turned sharply to unfashionability, this version of an obscure NB relic showed what can be done when bold plans are hatched. Featuring supple kangaroo leather sourced direct from the aussie outback, the Skippy had an enticing backstory that complemented the outrageous colour blocking. Who would have thought that a vivid tan colored toe and an oatmeal midsole would sit so serenely on what is a pretty conventional runner? Sneaker Freaker, that's who!
JORDAN V PACK (RAGING BULL AKA TORO BRAVO)
With one eye cocked on burgeoning international demand, Jordan had their best year for a decade! Within a slew of JB quality, it was the ‘Raging Bull' that had heads talking and credit cards quaking. Taking inspiration from the bull run in Pamplona, the theme was potentially questionable, but who gives a Toro Bravo when the shoes look this ill? Normally in a pack like this, one shoe is stronger by far but no one was complaining this time. Wrap it all up in a faux-wood box and you have one of the most sought after releases of the year.
REEBOK PUMP 20
Now it's time to put on our politician's hat as we sit on the fence and prevaricate. With twenty shoes in the pack, this is a nightmare to select an outright winner. Arriving in November 2009, twenty years to the day that Pump was unleashed, twenty different versions of the OG Pumps designed by twenty different retailers dropped like a hammer. Size? (UK) deserve recognition for making theirs in a hilarious size 20 only. As eponymous jokes go, it's a cracker, but the fact that OG Pump warrior Shaq wore size 20 only added a piquant sense of history to the gag. Solebox created theirs with a glowing light behind the Pump logo which was a double-double gimmick for a shoe with the greatest gimmick of all time. Honestly, if we could get the whole set of these we'd probably donate our left nuts to science.
KAZUKI ObyO ADIDAS
Kazuki Kuraishi has long been working behind the scenes for style dons such as A Bathing Ape and Fragment design. His recent adidas ObyO range has been something of a breakout, giving him international recognition in his own right. Frankly, there is so much depth and quality in Kazuki's range it was hard to split them with a meat axe, although we definitely passed on the screwball leopard fur models which were unwearable outside Harajuku. Even though his runners were hotter than wasabi on your watchamacallit, it was impossible to go past the KBALL mids in rich black leather with eggplant laces. So understated and on point, it was as if the materials were able to speak for themselves. The slender Kazuki branding on the tongue was also tip top. Utter perfection.
ADIDAS ZEITFREI X HYPEBEAST X SOLEBOX
If one shoe was to sum up the zeitgeist, it'd probably be the Zeitfrei. Admittedly it's an irresistible play on words, but there's truth there too. With the fixed gear juggernaut refusing to lose momentum, this curious triptych created a cycling inspired shoe which aligned itself with both Solebox and Hypebeast. What initially looks like a retro plimsoll reveals itself as a prototypical vision of the future. Classic styling but with a modern twist, the Zeitfrei featured reflective 3M underneath all those perforations and a neo-stash pocket. It was also great at what it was designed to do! Only 50 pairs were available for retail with another 50 pairs being sent to friends and family.
CONVERSE - AUCKLAND RACER
What purports to be a 1970s runner is clearly taking the mickey. Peep this clean silhouette and you can see a righteous vision of the future that just might come true. Made from reflective TPU and nylon mesh, the Auckland Racer is one of the inaugural First String releases for Converse. This one hit the nail smack on the head. Retro, but futuro - we can dig this stuff!
DIZZEE RASCAL x NIKE AIR MAX 90 (TONGUE AND CHEEK)
Hailing from South London and with a heavy duty accent that defies conventional wisdom, Dizzee Rascal personifies the UK grime aesthetic. In the lead up to his album release in September, this Air Max dropped exclusively at the Nike 1948 store in London making it about as desirable as Megan Fox in a hot tub. With a smooth combo of chalky soft leather and luxury suede, it was personalised with a reflective Dizzee heel logo and the words ‘tongue' and ‘cheek'.
GOURMET
One of the prime movers in our world this year was Gourmet. After moving on from their canvas Jordan fixation, the creative team responded with a masterclass in proddy that straddled the thin edge of the wedge between shoe, sneaker and avante garde footcover. With loads of neat details like full length air beds in duckbilled hikers, asymmetrical lacing systems and fresh mixes of fabrics, Gourmet have proven repeatedly that it is possible to be wickedly stylish and toe a relatively conservative non-sports line. So even and consistent is their handiwork that it's impossible to pick out a single model as deserving a spot in this list. So we pick them all! To hell with the rules!
PATTA AIR MAX
As we were saying earlier, runners developed a stink this year that wasn't all about rotting toejam. In previous years, this list could have easily produced 20 runners but not in 2009! With a background in music and an association with Parra (one of the world's leading illustrators and part time musician), Patta continues to punch above their weight from one of Europe's smallest and coolest enclaves. Their version of the classic Air Max showed what a simple approach can yield. In this case, a very traditional sneaker that stood out like the proverbials. We'll bagging these beauties.
REEBOK x PROPER DUAL PUMP RUNNER
Tristan Caruso's Proper store down in Long Beach might be on the DL, but he has a knack of producing the goods that belies his low-key status. There's no back story or long winded justification for this set - it is what it is - a nicely rendered series of Reebok Pump runners. Add the technical PlayDry lining, memory foam and a 100% synthetic upper and you have just what might be the world's first vegan runner. Yup, even the glue was free from animal gizzards!
NIKE ACG ASHIKO
Named after a ninja's favorite weapon, the ACG Ashiko boot is made using Flywire tech that's been mashed with a little vintage Nike design flavor. After a week hiking in Moab with Tinker Hatfield, Sneaker Freaker had the scoop on this crazy looking boot and we plonked it right on the cover of Issue 14. Nice piece of mental design in a year where doing as little as possible came to be a way of life.
CONVERSE X UNDFTD (POORMAN'S WEAPON)
Popeye is the only dude we know who loves Olive more than LA store Undefeated. With a firm fixation on camo flavour, over the years UNDFTD shoes have often taken a mildly military detour, but are always styled with panache and this project was no exception. Released as part of their 'War Is Business' campaign, the Poorman's Weapon featured an upper decked out in flight-jacket nylon, property tags, removable logo patches and a fresh orange lining. The black version sold out in minutes, and this green machine wasn't far behind either.
NIKE PRESTO
Not strictly one for the heads, the Presto is nonetheless a shoe which predestined a generation of Nike Free soles and lightweight technology. With novel sizing ranging from small to XL, the Presto was designed for post-athletic endeavours, or at least that was the theory all of us couch potatoes bought into. The ‘09 Presto remained true to its OG finesse, with the plastic spine system once again taking centre stage. However, it was the straight-up colours that gouged the eye in this pack and even though it was a wide release, it remains in our top 25 of the year.
ADIDAS x JEREMY SCOTT
Sometimes the sneaker lovin' community can be accused of not having a great sense of humour. Not Jeremy Scott though! Scott has been a long term adidas collaborator and this year he came back to the fold with a stunning ensemble full of outright silliness. How does a shoe with three tongues sound? Gigantic gold wings on the side of basketball boots? Tassles, studs, snakeskin and other crazy concoctions ensued. All of which sounds like a poodle's breakfast but with Scott's talismanic hand on the rudder, this collection repeatedly created gasps of excitement and awe. We won't wear any of it, but we have to hand it to the man.
Jeremy Scott take a bow!
VANS x HUF OLD SKOOL LX
Classic and boring can pretty much go hand in hand. What we loved about the Huf Old Skools was that they were plain as Doris Day, but had so many intriguing details they definitely elevated the bar a few notches. With a bricolage canvas and suede upper, it was the sweetly embroidered Vans stripe that did us in. Add the little triangle repeat on the foxing and you have a stone cold classic.
NIKE BRUIN X SUPREME
Supreme did it again. With four basic colours to choose from in the pack, it was the ultra-white version with the metallic red pops that emerged as the unlikely winner in our demented minds. As always, Supreme came correct with special add-ons, this time with a SB 'World Famous' keyring and Twill Pullover Jacket in three colours. Pizzazz!
LOUIS VUITTON x KANYE WEST
Think back to April. At the very same time that Nike had the Yeezy running naked and buckwild, up popped another Kanye footwear project - this time with Louis Vuitton. The combo of US artiste and Frog fashion was enough to stoke the flames, but the Yeezy vapour trail also created something of a slingshot effect for these Vuittons. What was even more surprising was that the shoe looked legit, relatively original and seemed to have enough of both Kanye and LV to make it all seem worthy of nuff respect. The sticker price of $1000, as ludicrous as it seems, was hardly a negative for Nikeheads used to paying sneaker resellers four figures for rarities.
RANSOM X ADIDAS - THE NEVER ENDING PATH
Forged as an alliance between adidas Originals and the Canadian retail conglomerate known as Ransom, the Never Ending Path is a footwear collection born and bred for the northern outdoors. With acres of sleek suede and a ruggedly handsome exterior, the collection comprises five all-new models which are a definite diversion from traditional sportswear - there's no 3 Stripes on these midnight ramblers! Classic Americana workwear has been huge in Japan for years and this year saw it brought home to its birthplace for mass consumption at a junior level. With the original sneaker generation growing up and out of their training wheels, projects like this one found a very welcome audience, desperate for a fresh update of staple commodities.
NIKE ACG SALBIS
This might be completely lame-o but we're picking the Salbis even though it won't ever be released. We don't know why it was closed down, but it's a despicable oversight and a crying shame because to us, it ticked all the boxes for what made ACG great in the early nineties. Tough, upright and plastered with acronyms, everything on the Salbis boot looks to be in the correct proportions.
C'mon Nike - free the Salbis!
ADIDAS CAMPUS 80 (HOUSE OF PAIN)
To be sure, to be sure! Here's one for the paddymelons that we couldn't help but fall in love with. House of Pain member Danny Boy O'Connor contributed design concepts for the Campus 80 and managed to knock this one out of Fenway Park with a toothpick. There are elegant design touches everywhere on this shoe which indicates an educated adidas hand was at work, but it was the luxurious emerald green suede that immediately girded our loins. So deep, so green, so lush, it was like you could dive into it and emerge in Dublin with a pint of Guinness waiting for you. If you were super lucky, you might have even ended up with one of Frank the Butcher's rare Concepts x House of Pain x Adidas Boston Celtics jerseys. Olé!
VANS TAKA HAYASHI
Vans had a year to remember with so many highlights... Parra, DQM, Supreme, Bad Brains, Kiss, Slayer, Malcolm Maclaren, Robert Williams, Crumb and a score of others produced niceness for the Cali cartel. However it was the handiwork of Japanese/American Taka Hayashi who really caught the eye of aficionados. Adopting American Indian style decoration is hardly a new thing, but Hayashi delivered a fresh tweak to some old classics, producing the Akat, Velocita and No Quarter models.
SOLEBOX X PUMA R698 ‘LIGHT UPS'
Solebox is notorious for collaborations, and in 2009 it seemed like the Berlin store had a new shoe every second week. Each one was a winner in its own right, but when we saw the Puma R698s with their light-up laces, we doffed our peroxided mullets. Featuring the bouncing Trinomic sole as seen on the Sneaker Freaker x Puma 'Blaze of Glory', Solebox dug deep to muster enough '80s touches to sink a pink battleship. However it was the light-up laces (a la LA Gear) that sealed the ridiculous deal – this R698 was only for those that literally like to light up a room!
SAUCONY SHADOW 6000 VARSITY PACK
Without two decades of incessant heritage marketing as back up, the Saucony Shadow 6000 frankly lacks due respect. However, in our eyes, such poor recognition merely enhances the appeal of a shoe that is largely passed over by so-called aficionados. With a thumping midsole and comfort for days, it was the lilac version in the Varsity Pack which tickled our tackle this year.
SUPRA SKYTOP 2
This is not one for heads as such but we dig the Skytop and that's that. With the original already in the Hall of Fame, it was an interesting move for Supra to create a second version of their most notorious model. With such high stakes to play for, the brand went way out of their way to keep the shoe a secret, even sending execs around the world with them handcuffed to their wrist! After months of horse whispering, the design was finally revealed and it was clear that the second Skytop entailed a slightly fancier level of panelling and a fresh skyhigh tongue that even Gene Simmons would be jealous of. Once again, Supra have it just right, staying one kickflip ahead of the imitators. The initial gradient colorway looks perfect, and dare we say it, more like an '80s runner than a kneetop skate thrasher.
CONTENT-powered by www.sneakerfreaker.com
Comments
Carajean - Sunday, October 30, 2011 @ 8:47 AM
Wow! Great thikning! JK