Since it's original launch in 1982 the Adidas Oregon had been one of Adidas' stable models, generating a continuous and substantial income for the company over it's 27 years in production and it's numerous incarnations. I particularly like this updated version of the original which I believe first appeared in the late 90's and is called the Oregon Ultra LE. It features completely reconfigured uppers and toe box yet in my opinion still retains the charm of the original. This clean black/white/grey colourway shown above I believe formed part of Adidas's 2008 spring/summer Originals Consortium - AZX Project collection with the colours themselves put together by clothing and apparel retailer and designers UNDFTED (Undefeated). Although currently unavailable in most stores a quick eBay search revealed a few sizes of this crispy colourway still floating about. Click the link to see some other interesting Oregon colourways.

With the explosion of sneaker culture over the last few years, it seems that companies are releasing so called 'limited' and collabo kicks so regularly it is impossible to keep up. The 'Limited Edition' sneaker has in many ways become so common that the original statement has almost become a paradox in itself. It has also often occurred to me how many of these 'limited' releases are made with exactly the same build quality and often also with similar materials to general release shoes. The only difference comes in the form of the inflated price tags and unnecessary secondary branding. Click the link for pictures and more info.

With every tom, dick and harry collaborating with the manufacturers you also find many of these shoes to be completely devoid of any subtlety, attention to detail or design integrity...as pretty much anything goes these days. This has lead me to look more closely at some of the GR (general release) kicks which may be overlooked by collectors due to their 'common' nature. A nice example are this pair of Adidas ZX500's. A classic design combined with a refined Sand / Legacy / Violet colour palette and stitched accents. Nothing too controversial but in my opinion simplicity should always prevail.

Available here in the UK at the following stores:

Main Source - ZX500
End Clothing - ZX500