2013 Brought a hell of a lot of kicks to the forefront. Some of them are retros and some of them are first time releases. Some of them even stirred up mountains worth of controversy. None the less these select few have made it through the trials of what was hot and what was not. Lifestyles Defined writer Shari and myself have comprised a list of sneakers that have made it to our top 20 list. Pay very close attention!
10. Adidas D-Rose 4: (October 10, 2013) A Great Sneaker that was not a Nike. The shoe released back in November just in time for Rose himself to find his way back on the injured list with the same knee injury that side-lined him for the 2012/2013 season. I wondering if he ever got a chance to break them in. Hmmm, Damn poor choice of words.
10. Concepts x New Balance 998 “Mint”: (October 5, 2013) Obviously I’m a sucker for fashion collaborations when it comes to sneakers but these New Balance’s are sick. The simple, fresh and premium design created in a Mint green was genius. The best pair of New Balance sneakers that I’ve seen in a long time. You will never catch me running in these, they will stay in mint condition.
9. Nike Barkley-Posite Max: (March 23, 2013) How can a shoe company such a Nike say Happy Birthday to such a legendary athlete such as Charles Barkley; than to produce one of the best uses of Foamposite in a sneaker. This was like a brand new sneaker with the soul of an old sneaker. The Barley-Posite was kinda love hate for many considering that anything following Foamposite never truly hit like the originals. None the less the design was dope, the glow in the dark sole was awesome and this made for an excellent ball shoe. No word if the show ever made it to the hardwood but it would be nice.
9. Ronnie Fieg x Asics Gel Lyte V “Volcano”: (October 25, 2013) I’m honestly not the biggest Asics fan but this collaboration produced an undeniably great sneaker! The deep and dark hues make for an unforgettable color way and a truly fashionable sneaker. These are not your average running sneaker by any means.
8. Air Jordan 5 “Grapes”: (May 04, 2013) This shoe was iconic. Not just from a Sneakerhead’s perspective but from a nostalgic stand point. The 5 “Grapes” were the only Air Jordan’s to never make it to the hardwood. One would think that they would have been an All-Star game Sneaker but he actually wore the Black and silver 5′s. The shoes’ only Air time (no pun) was on the cover of the Wheaties box, and on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
8. Maison Martin Margiela x Converse Chuck Taylor: (September 2013) Maison Martin Margiela is one of my favorite designers so once I noticed that they made a collaboration with Converse I had to include them in our list as well. The shoe’s dipped in paint design is fresh and original. In addition, the paint cracks after every wear revealing the true color way that lies beneath. The shoe was a little too pricey at $200 but I am impressed by the idea.
7. Ewing Athletics – Ewing 33: (August 5, 2013) what’s funny about this shoe is that they originally drop during a time period when Air Jordan ran the world of footwear. None the less the P. Ewing’s made Basketball footwear history when they were released back in the early 90′s. They were just as popular when sneakerheads saw the return in 2013. Classic!
7. Clot x Nike Air Max 1 SP: (September 1, 2013) The Nike Air Max 1 will always be a staple to any sneaker head so they had to make our list. The simple and clean design of this color way surely ranks highly amongst the Air Max 1 collection. The unique sole also helps the shoe stand out, it appears to be a clear sole with the bottom of an image if the bottom of a foot.
6. Fila Grant Hill 96: (March 21, 2013) We first saw these bad boys during the All-Star game of 96.The Blue bar and the Fila sign on the upper design of the shoe was supposed to represent a Hill. Not sure if anyone really caught on to that but yea! Just a little (Did You Know) for the masses. The spring of 2013 would mark the return of Fila Fly. The Grant Hill returned with welcome arms and although the sneaker was a bit bulky it went over very well with sneakerheads.
6. Air Jordan III Retro “88″: (May 25, 2013) With all the Retro’s that the Jordan brand has released fans always show and prove that the original is all that matters. The first ever Nike Air edition designed by Tinker Hatfield and releases in 1988 was a major contributor to the Air Jordan legacy and the shoes re release in 2013 lived up to the legacy. The three’s are my favorite Jordan’s of all time.
5. Air Jordan 1 Chicago: (January 5, 2013)This shoe is just timeless. It took me a long time to gravitate to the Jordan one. I thought they were ugly, and plan. But after having purchased almost every Air Jordan with the exception of the Jordan 1 and 2′s, I felt like it was time to go back to basics. One of two Air Jordan’s to feature the Basket ball with the wings and with that Chi-town colorway it made for a dope sneaker. All I need is a Chicago Bulls jersey with the Chicago in script. Priceless!!!
5. Air Jordan XII “Gamma Blue”: (December 26, 2013) As we all know Michael Jordan always drops some fly Retro’s for Christmas and last years sneaker took the cake. The Gamma Blue 12′s are a top contender in my book as far as Retro’s go the color way is fantastic. The Black suede on top of such an intense hue of Blue and small hint of Red creates an outstanding shoe.
4. Adidas Originals SS-80s Derrick Rose: (October 4, 2013) What can be said about the shoe that started it all!!! Shell toe, 80′s Original but this time with a splash of 2000NOW. This shoe featured Derrick Rose on the tongue in a gold tongue tab, a blue lining, and all black upper with an white outer and mid-sole and white shell toe. Get yourself a black with the white stripe track suit and your done! Outfit Done! Dope on dope!
4. Teyana Taylor x Adidas Originals Harlem GLC: (November 29, 2013) The GLC’s was another dope collaboration that was released last year. It was great to see such a young talent create such a great sneaker as her debut into fashion. These sneakers were one of the fastest selling releases from Adidas Originals a and how couldn’t they be. The design, the embellishments, the color; every dingle detail meshed together seamlessly on these sneakers. I’m sad to know that the relationship between the two has ended but we have new Yeezy’s to look forward too.
3. Reebok Omni Lite Pump aka Dee Brown: (June 14, 2013) Hold up while I pump up my Reebok pumps and win this slam dunk contest. Dubbed the Dee Brown’s after he went on to win the 1991 Dunk contest and that was pretty much about it. Still the shoe was dope in itself and placed Reebok in a great and formidable position to rival Nike. Reebok rereleased the shoe back in July of 2013 marked the first we have seen on the show since the 90′s.
3. Reebok Shaqnosis: (July 19, 2013) These classics had to make my list, to some the design may not be the most atheistic ally pleasing but they will always be a classic in my book and the sneakers re release was accepted by basketball and fashion lovers everywhere.
2. Reebok Shaq Attack: (April 19, 2013) If you look at these out of the corner of you eye you would swear that these shoes are Nike. Another 2013 retro, the Shaq Attack was as limited as some of the Nike counterpart. Perhaps the best Reebok sneaker to ever hit store shelves and Shaq’s very first sneaker. Next to the 5411′s this shoe was one of Rebooks first sneakers to not feature a mud-guard. The shoe would also feature Reebok’s Pump technology.
2. Nike LeBron 11 “Kings Pride”: (October 12, 2013) The LeBron 11 “King’s Pride” is number two on my list because they are the best LeBron’s to be released so far in my humble opinion. I still can’t believe they didn’t sell out as fast as his other designs. However, the color way and the technology used to make the sneaker definitely makes them one of the best sneakers release in 2013.
1. Air Jordan Bred 11′s: aka The windstorms, aka The End Or The World, aka The Red Bottoms, aka Gang Members Footwear: (March 23, 2013) Yup, you should have guessed it; the holiest of the holy grail of sneakers. Who would have ever thought that a pair of patent leather sneakers would make people loose the rabid ass minds. Although the Breds release date was actually December 2012, because they were restocked again in 2013, they made the cut.
1. Air Jordan V “Doernbecher”: (September 14, 2013) As a true lover of fashion I absolutely love to see fashion with a purpose, so these Jordan’s had to be my top pick for our list of Best Sneakers released in 2013. The Air Jordan V “Doernbecher” tells the story of the late athlete Isaac Arzate. The glowing artwork pays tribute to the young baseball star who sadly went into cardiac arrest during basketball practice in January 2012. After recovering from open heart surgery at OSHU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital Isaac was asked to be apart of the hospital’s freestyle program and he began sketching designs for an Air Jordan Retro V. Isaac couldn’t play sports again and unfortunately the 12 year old suffered a second heart attack and did not survive. After his passing Nike and OHSU Doernbecher invited Isaac’s family to work together to finish the design that Isaac had started. Using Isaac’s original sketches as a guide and some more his parents found, creating a design reflecting Isaac’s vision and incorporating design elements that represented the things that mattered most to him in his life: Isaac’s jersey numbers, 9 for baseball on the upper of the left shoe and 31 for basketball on the right.
There was several reason why I chose to do a collaborative list like this. So while every other website and blog were pushing out their ideas of what they thought the best of the best in kicksology were, I decided to take so time and put some though into what and how I would comprise the list. For starters this list is not entirely comprised of only my likes, instead Shari my fellow writer and friend offered her opinion on what she though were the best kicks of 2013 were. What surprised me is that our list, with the exception of a couple of sneakers looks almost identical. The list gives you both perspectives of a man in his thirties an a young woman in her early-twenties. Now I will leave it up to you; the readers to decide which selections belongs to who. Yes it is a top 20 list but it is comprised like a top ten list. We would like some feed back on this topic. Who likes what, who had the better list or do you like both lists? Let us know in the comment section.
LIFESTYLES DEFINED
-TAWANN X SHARI