James and Josh Shorrock are two brothers who know all about the footwear business. 
Their father worked in the industry, and they spent the first 14 years of their lives moving around the US, Asia and the UK. They followed in his footsteps—Josh with a gig at Adidas and James covering sneakers for Hypebeast. That's when they noticed how narrow the function of most sneakers were and decided to start Lane-Eight, which the brothers describe as a "sneaker company for the everyday athlete."
It took a little over a year, but they've just unveiled Lane-Eight's first shoe, the Trainer AD 1. It's not a running shoe, or a basketball shoe or a dedicated lifting shoe. It's a multi-purpose sneaker that's engineered to provide comfort and support in a wide range of activities, from walking to work to working out at the gym. In order to accomplish this, the two brothers first examined the core competencies of any sneaker—cushioning, stability, and performance—and then built from there.
The Trainer AD 1 is a sleek, modern looking shoe that features a knit upper with subtle suede accents. The fit is sock-like and a wide lacing system adds intrigue as well as additional support. The midsole is made from ETPU, which the brothers compare to Adidas' popular Boost technology. The squishy foam material offers considerable cushioning but often, ETPU is a bit too bouncy and unstable. They solved that issue by wrapping the midsole with a rigid sidewall made from thermoplastic polyurethane. This absorbs the up-and-down motion but not the side-to-side, reducing instability and helping the feet stay planted.
The overall design and feel is at once familiar and incredibly fresh. And the fact that they're specifically built to be versatile and long-lasting makes these even more appealing.
↧Trainer AD 1 sneaker,
$160 by Lane-Eight
