Set to hit the UK-based store this Saturday, August 25, Crooked Tongues presents another look at the Bodega x Saucony Elite G9 Collection.
Hybrids generally aren’t very good. There’s some that are so subtly executed (the 87/90s circa 1991 a good example) that it proves effective but generally there’s too much tinkering and the shoe loses its subtler hallmark details and the whole thing is a watered down mess. Saucony’s latest Elite pieces with Boston’s Bodega are actually very good. The gist of this trio is the G9 (Grid 9000) sole unit applied to classic Saucony silhouettes. The Jazz 91 (reworked by Bodega earlier this year) with its Shadow 6000 sole and Jazz upper was a taste of what was to come, but the GRID assisted 9000 sole is incredibly detailed and delivers some serious scope for extra colour blocking and these shoes are a mass of early 1990s performance running, linked by some purple accent colour.Â
The Shadow 5000 G9 is the best of the bunch, with that grey suede, subtly colored eyelets, grid patterned (we see what they did there) nylon and all round aura of stylish restraint making this manna from heaven for those who like to mix it up and expose some ankle. The Shadow 6000 G9 applies some Dipset/Juicy J levels of purple to this 1991 runner’s upper as well as that slightly newer sole, plus some gridded ripstop style fabric and a gummy sole, offset by a generous dose of teal. The Master Control G9 feels more in line with prior palettes from Bodega, with a spot of ACG in the colour mix and a nice use of soft jacket-style fabric on that toebox and collar. We’ve said it before, but this is the best ongoing collaboration out there and it’s a joy to see the Saucony lifestyle movement gathering pace. That Shadow 5000 is crack for your feet, so we recommend moving fast when these go on sale in the Crooked Tongues store this Saturday. We wish all partner projects delivered to this extent.