The collaborative relationship between Saucony and Bodega encompasses over 40 individual styles over the course of a decade and change. After such a lengthy amount of time, a certain familiarity with Saucony's past catalog and present offerings can't help but develop. Finding a totally unfamiliar shoe was surprising. Finding a shoe that Saucony themselves didn't even have a record of making was downright fascinating. This model, the GRID Azura 2000 instantly became the ideal choice for kicking off a new decade.
Earlier this year, we reintroduced the original GRID Azura 2000 to the public with an experimental design gone awry, conspiracy and cover up narrative. But the mystery didn't stop with the "lost shoe." The radical departure from both the conventions of late '90s running shoe design and Saucony's familiar aesthetic left things open ended, and ripe for reinterpretation.
The challenge particular to the reinterpretation of the GRID Azura 2000 was in transforming the turn of the millennium techno-optimism of a performance running design into something more physically and philosophically versatile. The concept we landed on was Ever Ready. The sense of excelling in varied environments and even amongst unpredictability is taken, in part, from the classic notion of the Bodega as a neighborhood convergence point for all comers.
The transformation of the GRID Azura 2000 under the aegis of Ever Ready is marked. A design meant to excel in the comparatively controlled conditions of athletic training has been altered for the sake of true, all-purpose versatility of occasion and environment. Where a streamlined shape with an extreme lightweight design characterized the original prototype, an approach reflected in the mesh dominant material choices, the retooling leaves only the transparent mesh windows intact, replacing the rest of the original’s mesh with suede and leather. This change carries over to the distinctive, aggressive overlay, which swaps nylon for pebbled leather. The more substantial physical construction simultaneously reins in the potential for catastrophic system overload resulting from heavy use demands placed on the lightweight frame inherent in the original prototype, while harnessing the true potential of the design, by providing more solid grounding for the energy generated by the streamlined silhouette. This change in perspective is also seen in the new colorway, which dispenses with the turn of the millennium, athletic futurism, for earth tones, greys and black, with the occasional vibrant accent. Instead of seeking to impose itself on its surroundings, this adapted form of the GRID Azura 2000 absorbs and responds to them. This new sense of self-assured adaptability goes down to the last detail, with custom packaging and multiple lace options.