The case for GR sneakers

This month, we're talking about the beauty of accessibility.

Here are two very different yet strangely similar situations that had me thinking about sneakers.

Scenario 1

In late December I saw Miharayasuhiro post a photo of a new style of runners featuring their trademark melty sole on their Instagram. I fell in love with them but they launched on Christmas Day or some bs on their e-commerce site so of course I missed. Having no idea whether they were a Japan-only exclusive or if they would launch via retailers, I felt like they had to be secured somehow. So I asked my good friend Suguru, who lives in Tokyo, to go check out MMY’s flagship store in Harajuku to see if they were in stock. Like the hero he is, he went and scooped me what I thought was my size and sent them over to NY. I tried them on. My stupid high instep feet couldn’t fit in properly so I had to go back to Suguru with my tail between my legs and ask nicely if he’d be willing to swap them out for a bigger size for me. I sent them back to Japan at an exorbitant cost, he went back and swapped them out, and then sent the larger size back to me (at an exorbitant cost). This time they fit a little big but I certainly couldn’t swap them again. And now, several months later, I am second-guessing myself wondering if I should have just stuck with the smaller size. I still love them but anytime a shoe is too big on me I find myself not reaching for them as often as I would otherwise.

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A post shared by Andrew Chen (@andrew3sixteen)

(Epilogue: Of course, local NYC shop Mannahatta got the Broken Runners in stock a few months afterward. I could have and should have reached out to Joe, their shop owner, back in December - but no. I was impatient.)

Scenario 2

Two weeks ago I was waiting online for a pretty hyped sneaker release. I don’t typically enter sneaker raffles or try for difficult online drops, but I was at work and had got an email reminding me of the release so I figured why not give it a shot - at worst I could flip them easily. I was at the site at noon, hit refresh a few times, and surprisingly got through. For a minute I thought that I was going to be able to purchase a pair, but of course - when I got to the end of the queue my size was gone. Tale as old as time. It was at that point where I, in my frustration, decided to just go to the ASICS website and buy a pair of sneakers that I have been looking at for a while now.

The funny thing about this style is that even though I had been looking at them for a month or two, my size (and every size) was still in stock. Yep. I just wanted a pair of GR sneakers. And truth be told, when I got them and opened up the box and put them on, I was more excited for them than I would have had I gotten the sought-after pair that I was after (but not really after) originally. What’s also great is that had they not worked out, I could have sent them back for a full refund. Or I could have swapped out for the right size.

I think there’s something really important to be said about looking more critically at what’s out there on the sneaker market. We’re in a time right now where there’s more good product available than ever before, and yet the market is still skewed by customers are tripping over themselves to buy a few SKUs that are artificially scarce or inaccessible.  My close friend who owns a Tier 0 sneaker shop also notes that there is no rhyme or reason as to why certain models perform better than others. Big collaborations that have blown out in the past might all of a sudden have no juice. And we all know that if a style doesn’t start selling out within minutes it’s a death sentence for that particular shoe, and they’ll probably sit until they’re discounted or sent back to be pushed through outlets. Customers buy to flip first and foremost, but also to flex. And if a sneaker isn’t highly desired by others, it’s deemed not worth buying. My buddy and long-time sneaker enthusiast Russ Bengtson once posted a great rant on Twitter on his utter disdain and frustration over the gamification of the sneaker industry and how it’s become completely fueled by corporate greed. And I completely agree. Any of us who love sneakers have been made in some way or another to consume differently because of the rules big companies have set up to make us chase product. 

Being able to score these Asics Gel 1130’s without having to enter any online queues or raffles or having to go to a store and wait in line felt really great. So in that spirit, the rest of this newsletter is dedicated to calling out a few sneakers that I have had my eye on that are readily available (and that clearly no one else wants).

Asics Gel MC-Plus

It’s pretty rare that every colorway of a shoe does it for me, but in this case I would wear every single one that is currently available. Maybe not the all-black, I’ve never been into black midsoles (but for this one, I might actually try). These shoes are super affordable at $100 retail and some colors are actually on sale. The first one that caught my eye is the Grape/Azure pictured above but a close second is the Lichen Green/Birch, and that one is only $80. The Metropolis/Birch is super wearable too.

Nike ACG Mountain Fly Low

Everyone needs at least one pair of Gore-Tex sneakers in their lineup for those rainy and disgusting days. If you hike, even more reason to scoop a pair but they have plenty of usage for us city folk. Two years ago I bought a pair of Hoka Kaha Low’s and they proved to be useful not just in rain but also in the wintertime to cross those dirty slushy fjords that accumulate at every street corner. Just two weeks ago when I started writing this newsletter, Darkside had every size of this ACG Mountain Fly in stock and I was seriously contemplating scooping a pair. They’ve since sold out of bigger sizes (including mine) but if you’re 9.5 and under you’re still in luck. I’m a sucker for speckled midsoles and the aggressive tread and 360 lacing on this shoe is fire.

Adidas Gazelle Lo

I’m good on Sambas - catch me in a pair of Black or Navy suede Gazelle Los with some big old Studio Nicholson chinos and a severely unbuttoned rayon shirt this summer. Such a great shoe and surprise, it’s always in stock.

Flower Mountain Kotetsu Hooks

Here’s a little bit of a curveball. I found out about this brand a year or two back when the homies at Eat Dust opened up their flagship store in Antwerp and started stocking the brand. I saw them in person a few months later at a local shop in Brooklyn and was able to check the quality out up close, and they’re really well made shoes. There are a ton of new sneaker brands out and it’s hard to carve out a unique look, but I feel like Flower Mountain is doing it. I dig this model with the hiking speed hooks and the one-pull lace system - did I mention I’m into speckled midsoles? Their Camp model gets an honorable mention, especially this women’s colorway in cream with the super chunky sole. I really like the collapsible heel and would cop it expeditiously if it came in my size.