A Classic lace wears a single color, from the first eyelet to the last. Flat, solid, no gradient, no added material. 21 colors, two lengths, €9.90 across the board.
What a solid asks in return
On a gradient, the color shifts and the lacing does part of the work. On a solid, there's none of that: the shade is the same everywhere, it doesn't move, and it fixes nothing. So everything rides on the moment you pick the color.
That's what makes it simpler than it looks. One decision to make, and you make it by looking at the shoe. On this Air Jordan 3, the blue and red of the laces were already there on the pair. Nothing is added, something is underlined.
One color to swap, and the pair becomes yours.
Which length to choose
Two lengths, 130 and 170 cm. That's fewer than the Originals, and it covers most of what's out there.
| Eyelet pairs | Recommended length |
|---|---|
| Up to 7 | 130 cm |
| 8 and up | 170 cm |
For reference: a Dunk Low, an Air Jordan 1 Low, a Samba or a Campus sit around five pairs, an Air Force 1 Low around six. Runners and high-tops go above eight. Editions vary, so count on your own pair rather than the average.
The eight-eyelet-pair case. It's the only spot where the two lengths compete. The 130 pulls a bit tight, the 170 leaves some length at the ends. Go with the 170 and own a bigger bow, it's more comfortable than a lace that's too short.
Finding your way through 21 colors
There's no construction to understand on a solid, so the Classic sort by what they do on a pair. Three groups are enough.
White, Cream, Black, Grey, Navy, Brown, Kaki and Denim Blue. They answer almost any pair and need no double-checking. That's where you start when you're unsure.
Blue, Aqua Blue, Green, Red, Orange, Yellow, Pink and Purple. These are the callback colors: you pick the one that already lives somewhere on the shoe, on the sole, a logo, a lining.
Pink Neon, Yellow Neon, Orange Neon, Red Neon and Green Neon. Like on the Originals, the moment there's fluo it becomes the subject. Save it for understated pairs, where it has room to work.
Choosing your color for your pair
The rule holds across the whole catalog: echo a color already on the shoe rather than adding a new one. On a solid it's even stricter, since there's only one shade and it gets no second chance.
On this 550, the red of the lace picks up the red of the sole and the logo. The result looks factory, and that's exactly what you're after.
Then there's the case where nothing echoes. A monochrome pair, white or black, offers no color to pick up. There, the lace becomes the only colored spot on the shoe, and you can take whatever you want: that's when the neons work best.
Care
The Classic wash by hand or by machine, on a delicate cycle, at 40 °C max. Take them out of the shoe, put them in a mesh bag, and let them dry flat.
On light colors, White and Cream first among them, regular washing beats a big late cleanup. A light solid shows dirt from end to end, since nothing breaks it up.
Where to start
The lace is the only part of a sneaker you can swap in two minutes, with no tools, without damaging anything, and put back the way it was if you don't like the result. That's what makes trying easy, and that's why the Classic are €9.90.
If you're starting from scratch, grab three colors: a black, a white or a cream, and a color chosen from your main pair. The first two will work on almost everything you own, the third will tell you whether you prefer the subtle callback or the bold color.
After that, you'll know what to add.
The 21 Classic colors are gathered in one place, at €9.90 in 130 as in 170 cm. Each product page lists the available lengths and the pairs the shade works on.
Classic Collection
