Sneakers (Almost) Too Sleek To Call Sneakers
This is Yohji Yamamoto’s idea of a vintage slim-shaped runner stripped down to its bones. It’s a shoe that’s extremely thin-soled, built of luxe leather, and undeniably sleek.
Arguably, it's too sleek and too sophisticated to be called a sneaker.
In a classy all-black colorway with small hits of white detailing, the Y-3 Tokyo sneaker has a formal quality. It provides a little bowling-shoe energy, reminiscent of those dressy heeled adidas bowlers brought back from the archives by Californian streetwear label Brain Dead.
You still get the familiar adidas stripes and Yohji’s signature across the side, but the rest is pure restraint. It just sits quietly and looks better the longer you stare at it.
The Tokyo’s DNA remains, but Yohji takes it somewhere else. The barely there sole is rendered even thinner than usual and the leather panels are finished with a decorative zigzag cut.
Now, you might be getting a sense of déjà vu. And that’s because this is yet another flat sneaker, but also because it’s a painfully luxurious streamlined silhouette.
Flat-soled sneakers of this ilk aren’t just a Y-3 thing. They’ve quietly become one of fashion’s favorite sneaker genres, living somewhere between dress shoes and track spikes. Miu Miu buckled up its retro runner into a leather “almost loafer,” Dries Van Noten recently made its post-samba sneaker into a suede semi-formal shoe, and Our Legacy's modest "Sneak In" shoe has some adidas Tokyo semblance.
Even Yohji himself has been here before with the Y-3 Regu, a minimalist leather flat missing half its sole.
The Tokyo, available now at adidas’ retailers for $330, slots right into that wave. It isn’t chunky, it isn’t loud, it’s part of this ongoing flat-sole-ification where sneakers slip into something dressier without losing their sporty DNA.
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