We thought we'd leave it up to the fellas at Crooked Tongues to give ya'll the lowdown on their new adidas Munchen x CT 'VIP' collab and how it all came to be. With only 150 pairs made and sold exclusively at the Crooked Tongues store, we bet these Bavarian freeballers won't last too long!
At Crooked Tongues we're open to suggestions. Especially when they're from bonafide design legends. Last year's adidas Munchen project led to some rewarding feedback from none other than Markus Thaler, one of the minds behind the ZX series and a ton of other classic 3-Striped models. He knows what makes an interesting shoe, from function down to unorthodox aesthetics, and a the super-limited 'Jacques and Markus' edition of the ZX 8000 that concluded 2008's successful aZX collection demonstrated, he's comfortable with reworking classics.
When we started working on makeups for this much-loved late '70s indoor training shoe design, from the upper down to the PU cup sole, we were a little apprehensive. It's a sacred shoe for many, and even cutting down on the suede made us feel like taboo-breaking outlaws. It paid off, because the CT Munchen was extremely well received on its September '08 premiere to tie in with Munich's Oktoberfest. That was gratifying, but Markus worked on a little VIP CT Munchen remix himself, taking the pub-friendly leather upper and skilfully modifying it without losing the familiar silhouette.
As a Bavarian himself, we trusted Markus and his idea of what represents the region. The results are impressive. Created with traditional footwear and the local climate in mind, this shoe mixes training shoe looks with something much more rugged. Breaking the upper into panels, there's leather on the heel, a woolen fabric on the rear carrying a gold 'CROOKED' embroidery, embossed rather than stitched stripes on soft leather, a covered tongue detail for added protection against the elements, D-Ring fastening, and most strikingly, a stitched forefoot panel with a distinctly duck boot feel. Eccentric finishing details include a bolder Bavarian flag logo on the concealed tongue, nubuck lining, an embroidered Edelweiss on the rear of the medial side and matching metal-tipped laces. The familiar midsole remains the same. If it all seems a little off-season in its use of colour and materials, you obviously haven't spent enough time in Western Europe. This is a year-round design to break out regularly.
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