We’re aware that we’re about 2 days late to announce our sneaker of the year, after putting out the 10 worst sneakers of 2019, but I feel this needs to be said, mostly because it’s quite unlike any other collaboration we’ve ever seen before.
As Nike’s gone onto the retro revival for the whole of 2019, we see long forgotten models like the LDV and Waffle Racer resurface from the depths of the archives, but not before assigning them a highlight co-sign which then proceeds to the drip-feeding of GR models, as per the usual Nike strategy. And in a turn of events unbeknownst to us beyond the circle of the Swoosh, Chitose Abe of Sacai was given carte blanche for her collaboration, the result of which birthed the Nike X Sacai LDWaffle. Hideous, eye-catching, fast, weird, wtf, were all used to describe the state of Abe’s creation, but it succeeded in implanting the image in everyone’s head and was the talk of the scene for months to come.
Sacai Creative Director, Chitose Abe
Unlike others which modified to shoe by taking an Exacto knife and deconstructing fan favourite silhouettes (cough cough Virgil), Abe essentially juxtaposed two models into one, namely the Nike LDV and Waffle Racer, realising the imagination of children whom decided to just overlay two things on top of one another when they were bored.
The concept doesn’t just stop at the side view though. Double stacked midsoles, double Swoosh, double tongue, and double laces ensured the continuity of such a wild, never-before-seen concept, and released with a myriad of unusual colourways that stands out on an already unique silhouette, practically cements the LDWaffle’s status in the books.
Other collaborations can swap out materials, change colourways, deconstruct and add some punk-ish inspired heel clips ala Undercover, but none can hold a candle to what Sacai has made; a true, original silhouette, that no one else can lay stake to without screaming plagiarism. And that’s why Sacai’s LDWaffle is the best shoe of 2019.
