The Reurn of LA Lights from LA Gear

Early in the year I caught you up on the reurgence of the LA Gear brand and found that there were reports of their most famous LA Lights model to return to market by year's end. Well the year sure is coming to an end quick and LA Gear is sticking to their word by releasing the new 2009 LA Lights on Black Friday. But does it live up to the lore?...




When I 1st heard the news I was excited and scrambled on to my phone's browser to get a glimpse of these as soon as humanly possibly. However what I saw kind of left me at a loss, not really disappointed but more sad that I was seeing exactly what I had expected, LA Gear tying way too hard.
To me and the many sneaker lovers that would kill for a fresh pair of LA Lights from 1993, the shoe has been somewhat of a myth since childhood. An old school bulky basketball shoe frame with somewhat rinky-dink lights that insert into the heel and blink a few times. That's what I have wanted for so long, that's what I would fork over my hard earned $100-200 for.
But, to me it's kind of clear that LA Gears isn't owned by sneaker heads like us. It's owned by someone who doesn't really get the market and does't really know how to cash in on the name that they already have. So instead we got a 2009 version of the Lights with shiney materials, somewhat awkward colorways, and an entire heel that lights up out of control. It's like a Hollywood "bigger, faster, stronger" steroid version of the shoe's I remember.

While I am slightly disappointed I do hope that LA Gear does well with this return and maybe one day we'll get a true retro sneaker from them.


These will release on Black Friday at 12:01AM on SportieLA.com.
There will be 5 coloways for men (white, blue, black, grey above, one not shown), and 3 for women (gold, silver above, red not shown)



PREVIOUSLY - The Reurgence of LA Gear

-john-

via solecollector