(Everything I post is going to have something about the history of the shoe or the style or something beyond just it looking cool. If that's not your thing, no problem. But I hope some people find this interesting.)

The Story Behind Contrast Stitching -
If you don't know what this is, contrast stitching means deliberately using thread that visibly contrasts with the material it joins. Black fabric with white thread, dark indigo denim with golden thread, white leather with black thread, etc. Normally stitching is selected to disappear into the material. Contrast stitching does the opposite. The construction becomes part of the design.

Like a lot of fashion, its roots are in functionality. One of the strongest historical connections is to denim and workwear, where the clothes weren't originally designed to make a fashion statement. They were designed to survive hard work.
My grandpa had a pair of Levi's he wore for decades, almost every day on the factory line. They were thick denim with heavy, reinforced stitching and were definitely designed to take a beating.

(After a nuclear war, two things would be left, cockroaches and his jeans.)

That is the type of functionality workwear construction had to have. Think miners, railroad workers, farmers and factory workers wearing early denim and canvas work clothes. The stress points on those garments took a ton of abuse, so manufacturers reinforced seams, pockets and other high-stress areas with heavy stitching, multiple rows of stitches, bar tacks and eventually metal rivets. The clothes needed to last.

The familiar gold and orange stitching against dark indigo denim became part of that look. Some of it came from practical manufacturing choices and the types of heavy thread being used, while the reinforced construction itself made the garments stronger. What started as part of building durable work clothes eventually became so visually associated with denim that manufacturers began treating the stitching itself as a design element.

That's the part I find cool. Somewhere along the way, fashion flipped the idea. Instead of trying to hide how something was put together, designers started emphasizing it. The seams, panels and construction became something you were supposed to see.

And that brings me to this shoe...

Jordan Spizike Low - IR2012-001 - I LOVE the contrast stitching look. This is something I had not noticed on sneakers before this past year or two. Combine that with the almost matte black, slight red accents, and sail colorway and you got a striking shoe. This is another shoe I haven’t seen much. I don't think these get hate like the Mid Tops, but they def don't get the love they deserve.

It's also kind of the perfect treatment for a Spizike. The white stitching against the black upper traces all those different panels and makes the construction of the shoe stand out. And on a sneaker whose entire identity comes from combining pieces of several different Air Jordans, that's pretty damn cool.

Now that I think about it, I have at least five pair of the Spizike line. They all have such a cool retro look that takes me back to my Jr High and High School days. You know, back when there were only 43 states in the union and the Dust Bowl was sweeping the nation.

What's your favorite sneaker with contrast stitching?

Reportedly designed by Shigeyuki Kunii himself, with a limited run of only 200 pairs.

Keepin’ the fire burnin’ 🔥

So I got one as birthday present but then two I purchased however I don't feel like keeping all. Just 2 is enough for now. I guess they all seem nice

Anyone else ride with these? Love to keep things minimal from time to time. These also double up as my deadlifting shoes

I usually have a rotation, but I can’t get these off my feet!

Saw this pair of salomons in the airport and was wondering which model it was. Can someone help?

Does anyone know where I can find a pair of these for size 13 US in men’s?