erlycatr saffie jacindee
Chris Richard
I originally intended to send out my weekly \u201CThings I Want to Buy This Week\u201D post today, and the first item on the list was the Yeezy Foam Runner. But I decided to switch it up after actually buying a pair. I\u2019ll still send out the shopping list ASAP!
So, I know what you\u2019re thinking: How did this happen? Why did it happen now? What am I thinking? Okay, okay. For the last few months my interest in the Foam Runners has quietly shifted from \u201Cnah to \u201Cprobably not,\u201D to \u201Cwell maybe,\u201D to \u201CI need \u2018em like Pusha T needs coke bars,\u201D and yesterday just happened to the tipping point day. A coronation if you will. This decision was also motivated by the fact that I\u2019m going to Miami for my best friend\u2019s bachelor party this week, and some slip-on kicks with a little bit of wild style just seemed to fit the South Beach vibe. (In a city full of dudes dripping in Amiri and Versace, I\u2019ll basically look like I was dressed by Dieter Rams in comparison.)
When the Foam Runners first debuted in 2019, I pretty much immediately knew what Ye was going for. In the same way that Ye said way back in 2015 on Hot 97 that he wanted to make \u201Csexier Ugg,\u201D (funny how he just did it with the NSTLD boot), with the Foam Runner the intention was clearly to make a more modern Crocs shoe. Crocs have now trickled down from chefs to fashion-forward folk to frat guy favorite, and frankly the Foam Runner has reaped the benefits, looking more appealing, wearable, and socially acceptable as time goes on. (Re-sale prices, which continue to climb, seem to indicate more people are feeling them right now than ever before.)
But I didn\u2019t get them right out of the gate was because with such an out-there idea, I wanted to see if they would have any staying power. Hopping on a new Yeezy just because they\u2019re new would be to truly just be buying into the hype. Like the best movies, the best sneakers aren\u2019t just celebrated for wow-factor right out the gate, but because people want to come back to them for years to come. With two and a half years of hindsight, it\u2019s safe to now say that the Foam Runners have gone through their initial hype cycle, the bad fits have been posted, and now are here to stay. As such, with them still top of mind, I knew for me it was time to pull the trigger.
Yes, they look out there. Despite the aforementioned similarities to Crocs, they\u2019re truly unlike any other shoe on the market not just in terms of shelf-appeal but also on foot. The inverted foot opening (which Ye described on Joe Rogan as more ergonomic) means pants drape over the tops of them differently than other shoes, which as Ye himself admitted takes some getting used to. So far (it\u2019s been like 5 hours) I\u2019ve only worn them with sweatpants so it\u2019s not something I\u2019ve had to encounter so far. But it\u2019s a challenge I look forward to overcoming. (Leather Supreme pants and foam runner massive fit definitely incoming, by the way. Watch this space.)
They\u2019re extremely bouncy when you walk around, in the best way. You feel like each step is spring loaded similar to how 350s or Ultra Boosts feel but maybe even moreso because it\u2019s a more plush material.
One thing that should have been obvious but I didn\u2019t think of and was happy to discover is how breezy they feel when you walk. It\u2019s like they have built in air conditioners for your feet, and you actually get the sensation of airflow on your foot as you walk. As someone who\u2019s toesy-woesies run how this was nice to find.
They\u2019re wider than you think. The top angle creates an elongated look which is kind of a cool design trick because if you flip them over you see just how wide the shoes really are\u2014at least as much as a Yeezy 700 if not more. This is also good for me because my dogs be thicc.
There\u2019s a grippy lining in the footbed that keeps your foot in place which is good because otherwise your sock-covered foot might slide around. I have a phobia of getting blisters from shoes because it\u2019s happened so many times before but with these, so far so good not that I have a lot of data to work with.
Despite their slip-on nature, they\u2019re 30% harder to get into than I would have imagined because of the grippy footbed. They\u2019re still wild easy, I\u2019m just insanely lazy and would have preferred not having to bend over to get the heel over my own.
I got the MX mixed moon gray version because I couldn\u2019t find them in the sand (off-white) color way in my size but honestly, I think I like the gray and cream hue better. They make me feel like I\u2019m wearing an $10,000 coffee table on my feet and aren\u2019t as poppy as the all-reds or even the off-white against the standard all-black everything fits I usually wear these days. Plus, I haven\u2019t seen a lot of people wearing this particular color around (even in hypeland central West Hollywood), which is a nice added benefit (read: rationalization).
Something to note is that all of the solid colors of the Foam Runners are made in the U.S. while the MX versions are made in China. I\u2019m assuming this has something to do with China having more advanced EVA injection molding processes which can handle the color mixing while allowing Adidas to still achieve their $80 retail price point.
If you\u2019re wondering how the mixed color EVA is achieved, they actually mix the colors when the foam is in liquid form before it\u2019s injection molded into the shape of the shoe (there seems to be a two part construction to these shoes marked by a thin line separating the upper and sole).
The way the color mixing looks is actually more interesting than you can appreciate in pics. It\u2019s not only different from pair to pair, but the pattern is not uniform throughout in terms of opacity which does give them more of a handmade feel despite their robotic origins.
On that note, I paid a lot more than $80 for mine. Fuck it, I\u2019ll just tell you. They were $450. I could have been patient and gotten them on Grailed for less but my Miami trip is in 3 days and I don\u2019t like waiting for things once my mind is made up that I need to scratch the jawnz acquisition itch. I popped into Cookies & Kicks with my dog knowing full well they overcharge for shoes but here we are. I\u2019m not perfect but in this moment I\u2019m happy.
Overall, I\u2019m extremely excited to wear these. I\u2019ve been wearing the same pair of JJJJound Reebok Club Cs for almost two years on the daily and they\u2019re beat. Even my dog is probably tired of seeing them. The soles are worn down even though the supple leather still looks amazing. While I have another blog coming about why I love Club Cs so much, I needed to switch up the script. I\u2019m bored seeing them in the mirror every morning.
This article was co-authored by Chloe Ohayon-Crosby. Chloe Ohayon-Crosby is a Costume Designer and Wardrobe Specialist in Los Angeles, California. With over eight years of experience in fashion consulting, Chloe specializes in personal, film, theater, and commercial styling as well as image consulting and costume design. Chloe has worked as an assistant designer for the distinguished fashion house Chloe and as a freelance stylist with Glamour Italia. Chloe studied Fine/Studio Arts at the Ecole Nationale Suprieure des Beaux-Arts and Fashion Design and Merchandising at the world renowned ESMOD cole Suprieure des Arts in Paris, France.
There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
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Yeezys are sneakers designed by Kanye West, either in collaboration with Nike or Adidas. They come in low-top, high-top, and boot styles, and you can wear Yeezys with casual and nighttime looks. In particular, Kanye often rocks his Yeezys with tapered jeans and graphic T-shirts. Select your favorite Yeezy style, and wear them with button-downs, long-sleeved shirts, or tees. Then, pair your Yeezys with jeans, joggers, leggings, or shorts to create stylish outfits.
One of the world's best-selling music artists with 160 million records sold, West has won 24 Grammy Awards, the joint 11th-most of all time and most awarded for any hip hop artist along with Jay-Z.[6] His other accolades include a Billboard Artist Achievement Award, a joint-record three Brit Awards for Best International Male Solo Artist, and the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.[7] West holds the joint record (with Bob Dylan) for most albums (4) topping the annual Pazz & Jop critic poll. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015.[8][9] West's first six solo albums were included on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2020, with the same publication naming him one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.[10]
West was born on June 8, 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia.[c] After his parents divorced when he was three years old, he moved with his mother to Chicago, Illinois.[16][17] His father, Ray West, is a former Black Panther and was one of the first black photojournalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ray later became a Christian counselor,[17] and in 2006, opened the Good Water Store and Caf in Lexington Park, Maryland, with startup capital from his son.[18][19] West's mother, Donda C. West (ne Williams),[20] was a professor of English at Clark Atlanta University and the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as his manager.
West was raised in a middle-class environment, attending Polaris School for Individual Education[21] in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois, after living in Chicago.[22] At the age of 10, West moved with his mother to Nanjing, China, where she was teaching at Nanjing University as a Fulbright Scholar.[23] According to his mother, West was the only foreigner in his class, but he settled in well and quickly picked up the language, although he has since forgotten most of it.[24] When asked about his grades in high school, West replied, "I got A's and B's."[25]
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