Sneaker Freaker's 2018 Staff Picks

Blogging about sneakers is a rough life. Regardless of whether your passion lies in retro Air Max, bygone adidas Originals, or hallowed SBs, the news cycle will shackle your hands to a keyboard to cover some excruciating events. You can laugh, but it’s true. But filtered through all the and beam rays of sunshine to brighten our days.

These are the sneakers that make it all worthwhile, and keep us frothing on materials and detailing invisible to normies. These are the sneakers that we gagged for most this year: Sneaker Freaker’s Staff Picks of 2018.

But there is always a joker in the pack, and that was the Barcelona- and Bangkok-based . If you follow their impeccable track record of colabs, you’ll appreciate the maverick 24KTS sense of style. Never predictable or falling for the corny/lazy/easy option, Pol Fanlo and his team always go for broke. Case in point was their GEL-Lyte III ‘24 Kilates Express’. Admittedly the railroad theme was a stretch, but the magnificent jungle drone video brought it all home – there was no escaping the batshit bonkers mix of emerald green, chestnut suede, ivory nubuck, and that unique shade of toddler vomit. It takes balls to knock out such a crazy combo, and incredible finesse to make it all gel harmoniously. Considering the GEL-Lyte III is hardly a household name at the moment, this is an even more worthy winner. Kudos to Kilates, this was an ambitious project that made my day, and my year.

Special mentions to the Air Max Deluxe, Mike Packer’s EQT Cushion ‘91, Afew’s ‘Koi Club’ ASICS, Carhartt’s Air Max 95, and the OG orange Air Terra Humara.