adidas Hook Shot Winter Boot

• MODEL: ADIDAS HOOK SHOT WINTER BOOT
• TYPE: BASKETBALL / HIKING
• MADE IN: VIETNAM
• MADE ON: 11/12
• ART.NO: G95526
• FACTORY: APE 779001

adidas is really on a roll with retro releases recently so it certainly fits the mold to push out another vintage pair in a slightly modified makeup.

It’s not the first time adidas Originals has opted to drop a hot hoop silhouette and garnish it with some cooling icicles of change. The Conductor Felt DP, part of their Winter Craftsmanship pack of 2008, was definitely a clean example of how to go full eskimo mode on some well-known basketball kicks. And of course, that’s not all, as other ‘wintery’ models were dropped like the classic adidas Ecstasy combined with a furry inner lining. Or even some non-bball joints from 2010 such as the more hyped Chewbacca boots or CLOT-made Hoth Skate’s, both part of the Star Wars series.

Over-publicized franchise series aside, the resurrection of the Hook Shot is actually quite some serious design business. We’ve previously featured the actual retro model and discussed in that article about the blank endorsement frame on the tongue. We won’t go into that again, but we will offer up one bit of open-ended critique: in basketball there is a ‘three-second rule’ or ‘three in the key’ as it’s sometimes called, and while it means something specific there, perhaps the same idea could be applied to retro releases. If the OG version hasn’t been retro’d for at least three months, maybe it’s too soon to already be dropping massive modifications? Anyhow, just a passing thought we had, though nothing to dwell on too long, as we’d like to look closer at the modifications made to the model itself.

Other than the side paneling, lacestay strips, and general outline of the shoe, it’s a completely different beast. Higher, more padded tongue. Thicker, boot-like sole unit. New eyelet style to matching a hiking shoe’s aesthetic, and similarly an ankle collar providing more support and donning a pull tab for a more secure assembly onto one’s foot. Curiously it looks as though adidas Originals might be taking a page from the book of Kazuki Kuraishi, as the bit of textual detailing on the pull-tab is somehow reminiscent of his endlessly delicious work with them in the past.

And that’s the key here actually: knowing where to take good cues from. While we haven’t had this pair on foot, so we can’t truly describe the experience it creates for the wearer, we can state that basing a new winter boot on a classic, recently retro’d basketball model is certainly evidence of some forward creative thinking for the design department over at our treasured Trefoil tribe, even if it might be a bit too soon to start experimenting with such a classic.

written by Dylan Cromwell

photography by errol