adidas Y-3 Qasa 'Off White'

In 2013 this looked like nothing else on a shelf. Ten years on, half the shoes around it borrow something from it.

A neoprene-soft upper that closes around the foot like a sock, elastic straps where the laces should be, and a sole built on technology adidas had already abandoned.

Details

Y-3 Qasa
Textile upper with stretch mesh and leather details
Off-white, cream white and wonder white
Elastic straps in place of lacing
Suede lining at the heel
Padded collar and tongue
PORON performance cushioning
Tubular EVA outsole
Style code ID2927

Background

Yohji Yamamoto thought sneaker design had gone quiet. So he went through what adidas had thrown away and found Tubular — a running sole from the early nineties that nobody had touched in twenty years.

He built the Qasa on it in 2013. It was strange enough that people argued about whether it counted as a shoe. Then adidas revived the whole Tubular line off the back of it, and within a few years the sock upper and the swollen sole were everywhere.

Production stopped in 2017 and did not start again for five years. Of everything Y-3 has made, this is the one Yohji has named as his own favourite.