It used to be a given that a pro skate shoe would be the business. Like way back in the days you got a pair of cabs, or half cabs – you knew that Steve Caballero wouldn’t just ride anything, and they were tough as hell would last. These days it’s not about making a durable shoe in many cases, it’s sales. I saw some crazy glittery-ass super-high-tops the other day, and I can’t imagine wearing them, let alone trying to skate in them, where as the kids in Hoxton would find them perfect for prancing around on street corners which is a result for the manufacturers back pocket and a fail for skaters.
Thankfully, two names in skating you can trust are DVS and Daewon. So when I came across this collab with Almost I thought I’d step out from the 20 year shadow of skating in Es Accels and Vans and give my feet a treat.
First off, you open the box and instantly get stoked off the 10″ long mini Almost deck with accompanying donut theme to match in with the colour way. This tops a sticker any day! The second thing you get stoked on is the instant “I don’t need breaking in” feel the sole gives you, these bad boys are session ready like donuts hot out the box!
The sole is really soft, but has so far (a month in) showed zero signs of wear. The Ollie area is pretty wide and that allows the stitching to be away from the contact area as much as possible. The suede again is really soft and flexible so you get a really sharp response and so far has scuffed up from Jessops abuse, but no hole.
I guess this shoe reflects Daewon’s skating, fast and responsive. If you are a hammer skater, you might want a little more protection, but for the street tech heads these shoes are perfect. Peep the matching hat and hoodie too for the style gurus out on the grind – these shoes are the business.
9/10
PP
Check out some behind the scenes footage and some clowin’ by Daewon below.