The Asics Leggerezza FB shoes, designed in collaboration with Gino Iannucci, combine the upper of a late-80s football boot with the outsole of an OG handball trainer and melds those nostalgic aesthetics with a series of modern features to sport a totally new look as a skate shoe.
Infused with Asics history and enhanced for skate impact, is the Leggerezza FB the shoe model that finally ties the gap between asics’ past and ongoing push to becoming a skate staple?
So we had to try a pair of them to see what the deal really is.
Read our review below to get our thoughts on what they are like to skate in and check out our weartest video to find out for yourself.
(1.) – Design and Style: “Fully Leather, Fully Stoked”
What makes the Leggerezza FB stand out to most skate shoes available right now is its slick-looking leather upper. Suede is the preferred material for the majority of skate shoes because of its durability and flexibility but because the Leggerezza’s are made of leather, they break out of that same old skate shoe looking mold.
Speaking of looks, aside from the shiny, smooth leather exterior, another standout feature of the Leggerezza is its wide and puffy tongue. Not only does it preserve that classic football boot look and inspiration with its exposed foam and sleek design, it protects your feet from board hits and adds an additional layer of comfort.
As the upper is leather, it’s much more slippy and a little bit less grippy by design than suede-based shoes. This means they are going to feel great for doing all your flip tricks but will have a more loose board feel for Ollies, slides and grinds. Once you get the feeling for it, there’s nothing quite like it.
But we bet you’re wondering how do the Leggerezza skate and hold up in the long term and are they flexible enough to have as good a skate in as a suede shoe?
(2.) – Upper: “Strong and Smooth”
Well, first you’ve got to consider the entire upper leather is double-stitched across the toe to increase its strength. This is a huge part of what makes the leather build so sturdy. The double stitching on the toe and the heel reinforce the shoe on high wear and tear areas on the toe and the heel and further reinforces it, making it thick enough to keep its shape and withstand rippage but thin enough for you to get a solid board feel.
But to finally answer your question, yes, the Leggerezza’s leather is thick and strong, it’s more than suitably durable to withstand a lot of flip tricks but what’s even better about the leather is how it becomes a personal shoe the more you skate it. It has a raw-looking aesthetic, that doesn’t just look rad, it molds around the shape of your feet as it wears in.
It doesn’t have a super overly clean modern skate shoe, which means you’ll be wearing something that looks different and its nostalgic vibe meets modern day look means you’re going to be able to wear the Leggerezza’s with clothes from basically any era. So if you’re gonna throw on some clothes that look pretty thrashed or fresh out of the box, they are going to complement pretty much any type of outfit that you choose to wear with them.
There’s also a big Asics Tiger logo that spans the entire side panel and a wavy cut out additional layer of leather around the lace box, that looks rad and reinforces a part of the shoe where you’ll definitely always need a bit of extra protection if you don’t want an oncoming board to come rolling into the side of your feet and end your session.
The colour blocking accents on the toe box and side of the collar add to it’s sleek style and ensure wearing the Leggerezza’s means you’re going to look as cool and on point shredding on your board when you’re grinding a local curb as you do hitting up a local bar with your homies and it’s going to look as rad on your feet when you’re doing both.
(3.) – The Toe: “Sick for flip tricks”
The toe is suitably pointy and works brilliantly for flip tricks. The double-stitching right across the top of the toe box is reinforced by two overarching stitch lines on both sides to support the other stitching lines enhance durability and it also gives it a lot of flexibility in the places where you need it to.
(4.) – Laces: “Tied Up with Style”
The laces we got in the box with the Black/White colorway we skated – with the black and red stripes, really well highlight the accents along the shoe and keep it from looking too overly plain and uniform from a distance.
(5.) – Insoles: “Standard Asics Protection”
The insoles give you standard Asics protection, providing solid padding with some perforated holes in the heel area to help make your shoes breathable. But if you’re going to step up to a really big set of stairs, these would definitely benefit from putting another large insole in them.
(6.) – Heels: “Precise Cuts in the Heel Cups”
But this isn’t to say you could not go out and get buck skating the Leggerezza. Skating big drops has definitely been factored into these. The heels of the shoe have great impact cupping grooves that gives them an in-built cushioning system to support your feet and this cut out on the middle of the heel is rad, giving the shoe an even sharper look.
(7.) – Outsole & Midsole: “Sharp and Solid”
It’s a subtle detail you might miss but it’s very important. The outsole is angled at the bottom at the sides, giving you solid grip. So when you’re cupping the side of your board, your foot is really going to dig in and give you a solid lock. Also adding to it’s impact protection, the Leggerezza’s midsole has dual-density foam, which has a firm layer for stability and a softer layer for shock absorption. So they have that springiness and solid protection in arguably the most important place in the shoe where you need both.
(8.) – Soles
The sole has a standard tread, that consists of rounded semi circle line forming patterning dishes on the toe and heel that will help you grip when pushing and a series of blocky cut out grooves in the middle, that support you to keep your balance on the board when you land after doing a trick or just when you’re rolling around really fast.
(9.) – Skateability: Fit
The Leggerezza are true to size and they fit well. They had a snug fit out of the box, which held over time and softened up and felt even more comfortable each time we popped them on.
(10.) – Skateability: “Breaks in as you skate them”
Due to the Leggerezza being fully made of leather, there will be a longer break-in period with these. For us, it took a few skates in these to really wear them in. But as the leather wears, creases slightly, and molds to your foot, it gives your feet much greater flex and movement with each session but without compromising support or durability.
We would suggest wearing these in by just cruising and pushing around in them for as long as possible to get a good feel for the shoe before you start really going for tougher tricks while wearing them straight out of the box.
(11.) – Skateability: Street
The Legrezza is made for street skating. Tricks on flat feel like a breeze and skating gaps, stairs, ledges and banks in these is definitely the way forward. The leather helps you to flick your flip tricks a lot quicker than a lot of different shoes we’ve skated and because they’re lightweight, you can push around in them all day with ease.
(12.) – Skateability: Transition
The Leggerezza are made for street skating, with design influences by a street skater. But if you do like to flip your board and do shuvits, or skate mini ramps and small to medium-sized banks, because flip tricks are so easy in these, if you like skating those, ledges, low-impact ramps and street spots, are all ideal places to shred in them.
(13.) – Colorways
The Leggerezza FB were released in two different colorways – a low-key looking Navy/White and a much bolder and clean, White/Pure Gold.
These two versions also came with waxed laces.
Since then, the Leggerezza has now become currently available in three additional colorways, including the other two: The model we skated in, the Black/White – which has these red accents on the toe box edge, collar, laces and now in two ultra slick-looking monochrome colours too, including White/Black – with a fully black outsole and white upper and a Black/ Bright White, which is a fully black and white version, with white accents
(14.) – Price
UK: £85
USA: $105
(15.) – Overall Rating 7/10
Overall, The Leggerezza FB is undoubtedly a stylish, lightweight shoe that feels great to skate street spots in. It looks different to most models out there. It takes nods from pursuits outside of skateboarding and has spun them into something new. If you’re looking for a different skate shoe to what most skaters out there will be rocking or you want to get new flip tricks on lock or have shoes that look just as good at a street spot as in a club or bar, this is the model that can definitely help you achieve all of that with ease.
