The GRID Azura 2000 model never existed in the first place, and suggesting otherwise is uncomfortable for the top buyer in Saucony. After more than ten years of working together and with more than 40 individual footwear styles under their collaboration belt, Bodega thought they had seen even the most mysterious corners of the Saucony archive, and yet the reaction to this discovery was a mix of suppressed panic and tight lip-like shortness. The model name, GRID Azura 2000, handwritten on the back of a photo, is the only reason that the name initially reached the building. The background for an X-Files worthy collaboration filled with classified documents, anonymously threatening, men in black suits, unmarked sedans, secret meetings, and the like usually appears in the imagination as something that takes place in literal darkness with meetings.
The original photo has never been allowed to leave the Saucony complex, but copies have been thrown away. Although the design of the GRID Azura 2000 would deviate from what would be considered a traditional Saucony look, it clearly bore the characteristics of Saucony branding.
A closer look at the mystery silhouette revealed that a room sets things in a mild way. The thick physical forms that were used to accommodate the advances in damping and conduction technology that occurred in the 1990s were considerably reduced. This is a change that was reflected in the construction of the upper, which was dominated by lightweight transparent mesh. The sneaker has a manoeuvrable construction that served to enhance the impact deflection and dispersion of foot attacks from the characteristic GRID technology from Saucony. Stylized overlays with a wavy, sawtooth design assumed a more aggressive visual attitude than any previously Saucony model. In short, the prototype suggested a sneaker that was not only ready for new challenges, but also for unforeseen obstacles. It is clear that the GRID Azura 2000 should be nothing less than the face of Saucony in the new millennium.
The Bodega x Saucony GRID Azura 2000 is available from Tuesday 4 February 2020 at 00:00 hours at SneakerBAAS!