2009 - BEST OF THE BEST SNEAKERS

CHRIS AYLEN - LONDON
ADIDAS TORSION SPECIALS

Best of the best in 2009? Hmmm... Rather than picking up things as they dropped, I exercised caution and waited to see if things would still hold their appeal a few months later on. Some did. Many didn’t.

Nike Stefan Janowskis, the ARC AF1s and the whole LIVESTRONG series, the éS and Crooked Tongues ‘Foothills’ collection, Puma’s staple Suede in a bunch of classic colours, Lakai’s MJ-5 and Guy Hi models... All were worthy additions to the hallway this year. If the endorsee of the Yeezy wasn’t such a penis, I might have considered those too. Holding back slightly on the new releases meant that I picked up some personal grails from yesteryear – the taxi-tongued Hyperstrikes of the Foot Patrol Epic, the Dia de los Muertos Dunk SBs, adidas Union 35ths, multiple pairs of the AD21 Huarache Bursts and a few others.

adidas threw some killer punches again this year and the Dennis Busenitz model was one of the most successful major brand skate shoes yet. The moss-green Cieros firmly established the model as a modern-day classic and my Kazuki ZXZs only missed pole position for being a size too big. The House of Pain Campus proved that endorsement didn’t have to be OTT. Clever little details throughout the year made me smile, like the Tim O’Connor model’s inner-sole nod to vintage Artifacts lyrics... ‘Attack of what? Attack of New Jerusalem!’

So, to work it out, all I have to do is look down to my feet right now: the Torsion Specials with the Gore-Tex lining. I could have opted for the Tokio Lows perhaps, but the overly confident pricing didn’t work so well for me. For £20 less, the Specials were mine. Aside from a near-perfect colourway, the functionality of the waterproof upper means that I’ll be rocking these for six months straight while winter does its worst in London. A little purple lace flipping (to bring out the heel and toe detailing, of course) has firmly set these as my favourite shoe of the year. Everyone involved please pat yourselves on the back.