adidas Y-3 Centennial Lo 'Off White'

Leather, canvas, suede and cracked leather, all in the same off-white. Nothing contrasts, so the shoe is nothing but texture.

Across a room it reads as plain. Up close it does not.

Details

Y-3 Centennial Lo
Upper in leather, canvas, suede and cracked leather
Off-white, cream white and wonder white
Wide forefoot, a Y-3 court signature
Leather and canvas lining
Padded collar and tongue
Lace closure
Rubber outsole
Y-3 branding
Style code IG2914

Background

Yohji Yamamoto studied law first, then spent fifty years refusing almost everything fashion asked of him. Black when everyone wanted colour. Cuts wide enough to hide a body rather than sell it. Nothing built to be looked at, and somehow everyone looked.

In 2002 he took that to adidas. Nobody expected it to hold. It is past twenty years now — long enough that the odd part is no longer the pairing, but the patience.

The Centennial comes out of the adidas basketball archive, taken apart and rebuilt in four materials that all share one colour. The wide forefoot is his tell. It turns up on nearly every court shoe he has ever drawn.