From Gary Aspden's Instagram account that can be found here.
On Liam's
Liam knew from the outset that he wanted to do a version of the adidas Achille based on archival versions of that silhouette so the starting point for this was looking at different vintage versions of the shoe.adidas had done a reissue of the Achille in the early 2000s but the vintage Achille had a very different look to these and we were looking to create a new, revised version of those for the adidas SPZL range.
Liam knew from the outset that he wanted to do a version of the adidas Achille based on archival versions of that silhouette so the starting point for this was looking at different vintage versions of the shoe.adidas had done a reissue of the Achille in the early 2000s but the vintage Achille had a very different look to these and we were looking to create a new, revised version of those for the adidas SPZL range.
The first challenge was that there were no existing outsole moulds for a vintage Achille available to us and there was nothing that might work as a substitute/compromise.We felt that the outsole and the way it wraps around the toe and heel is key to the overall look of the Achille and we knew that if we wanted to get what we wanted we were going to have to create new outsole moulds across the entire size curve.
Once we got the green light to do this we were able to move forward.There were some variations in the specifications of the archival versions but eventually we settled on a version we liked and 3D scanned that pair as a starting point.In parallel the team worked on the original tech drawings as a foundation for the new upper.Working simultaneously on those two things we were able to recreate the Achille outsole as close to the vintage one as possible.As always we were working against the clock on this process so the first sample was built on the Country OG midsole/outsole and last while the team worked on developing the new outsole moulds.
The first round samples came in a much shinier nylon before we got the matt nylon that was used for the later versions. There was also a couple of colour options - one had the same base with a claret stripe and midsole but we opted to go with the chocolate brown instead.We added extra perforations to the tongue as a nod to past LG releases with Liam's portrait finishing the overall look of the shoe.
On Noel's
On Noel's
Whilst the original reissue of the Marathon 85 wasn't a big hit commercially it's a silhouette that Noel has always liked and on occasion worn (particularly the black/red colourway). When Noel suggested the idea of teaming up to do a version of them as a SPZL release we felt it could be a good project. We believed there was some scope to improve on the Marathon 85 and take them somewhere new.
We would meet at Noel's studio to discuss ideas (along with @chetcutimike) at every stage of the sampling process and on occasion did Zoom calls with the SPZL team in Herzogenaurach from there.Initially we talked about each of the different elements that made up the Marathon 85 and what we might change to refine them and give a better overall look - essentially a completely revised version of the original reissue.
We changed the proportions of the upper and substituted the perforated toebox for a classic adidas 'T' toe overlay. The depth of the midsole was adjusted and the midsole 'scoop' below the heel (synonymous with the Marathon 85) was removed. The first sample had a suede tongue which we decided to swap out for the ecotex 'dimple' tongue (with Noel's portrait inset) as well as adding tonal covers to the eyelets.
There was a lot of back and forth with the materials team as the navy suede on the second prototype wasn't as deep as we had hoped for so the team found a more appropriate suede from a different supplier.From that first sample we could see their potential and knew that we were onto a good looking hybrid shoe.The shoes come in the blue box with Noel's image used on the side in the same style as 70s athletes would have on their signature shoes.