adidas ZX 8000

• MODEL: ADIDAS ZX 8000
• TYPE: RUNNING
• MADE IN: VIETNAM
• MADE ON: 06/13
• ART.NO: D65459
• FACTORY: SHW 675001

Yet another brightly colored runner drops from adidas Originals’ ZX family for the first quarter of 2014, showing off a “fresh” green, “zest” orange, and white “vapor” colorway to tie in tightly with the Springtime.

Funnily enough, even though it’s the 25th Anniversary of the ZX 9000, 8000, and 5000, this pair doesn’t seem to make the cut for that pack, not only landing itself a lesser spotlight but also not achieving whatever status a sneaker is presumed to have in order for it receive the ‘M’ model upgrade character in its name. All of the rest of the 25th Anniversary pack pairs are also apparently based on the inverted colorways of past releases, many of them being heavily iconic or re-issued in a plethora (take the well known “aqua” 8000s for example). Do these fit that mold as well?

The answer is: sort of. If you twist the colors to their exact polar opposites you’ll get a white base with red contrasting bits and some blue highlights here and there. From a quick glance backwards one can immediately relate this to the experimentally mesh net heavy pair that was released in 2011, but the match isn’t as on point as the other 25th Anniversary (‘M’ stamped) pairs were to their inspirational past relatives.

There’s no clues from adidas either as to why these weren’t paired up with the rest, or what the missing ‘M’ might mean, but for now, that’s really not so relevant to the average runner-lovers huntings. If you dig the hues then scoop ‘em up while they last, as they’re already off pre-order and available in stores at the time of this article being written (late January, early February, 2014).

written by Dylan Cromwell

photography by errol