2011 was a great year for footwear, limited-editions and collaborative pairs were still somewhat obtainable for those in the know and sneaker culture had yet to go mainstream, even if that leap was close.
Back then PickYourShoes.com an online retailer was bookmarked and regularly visited in our internet browser. Known for its old school, simplistic aesthetic and epic back-catalogue of sneakers, it left many questioning its legitimacy, running in a murky area, somewhere between a resource, reseller and a retailer with new releases and older pairs (at premium) sitting side by side.
This makes its choice by ASICS as a collaborative partner rather an oddity but we’re guessing the original ‘Teal Dragon’ may have been a bonus SMU upon placing a large order, a practice brands have been known to do for well performing accounts.
No matter how it came about, what resulted was one of the best ASICS GEL Lyte III’s ever produced.
The vibrant mix of Teal, White and Pink erred close to Lebrons sought-after ‘Miami’ editions yet it wasn’t only the colourway that turned heads, a well-thought-out material build of waxy perforated nubuck, long-nap suede, plastic mesh and 3M made this a must in any GEL-fans collection.
While the ‘Teal Dragon originally debuted in 2011, 3 years later the shoe returned to celebrate PickYourShoes.com’s sister store @baitme’s 2 year anniversary.
Sadly PickYourShoes.com in its original format is no more (even if we keep a sneaky archived version) but the effect it had on the culture, especially overseas, still echos to this day.