So I haven’t seen any good reviews on any male fashion subreddits about this particular Common Projects alternative, so I figured I’d give a short review and comparison as well as answer some questions if there are any.
Here was my first impression when I bought them
First let me state what I have and have not tried so far. I have 3 pairs of CP in non-white colorways, 2 of which I have worn a number of times and 1 I’ve worn once times (black). I have worn a pair of Beckett Simonon low top whites into the ground. I have a pair of Greats Royales and CLAE Bradley as well. These are what I’ll be comparing to (Will likely do a holistic comparison if there is interest in a separate post) Here's a pick of the BS alba lows beaten up:
On the retail end, these go for 248, but you can usually buy a jcrew gift card for ~18% off with enough searching and get them for about 200. The triple white option is closest to the white minimalist CP Achilles low white. The Koio is made in Italy out of Vitello calf leather as opposed the Napa leather of CP. Both have Margom soles.
Upon opening the box from Koio, the packaging looked really legit with cardboard holders. It came with your typical shoe bag to store the shoes (I never really use these). Upon first feel, the leather felt a little more stiff and less soft than the CP pair that I recently wore for the first time. Pics comparing them in the album below. Upon putting both on at the same time, the feel is certainly less luxurious with the Koio sneakers. It has less of that soft buttery feel that you get when you slip on a pair of CP.
Something that I really liked upon first impression, however, was the suede inside near the heel. This cushioned area certainly feels a little nicer than the inside of the heel on the common projects, not that there are really many grievances with the CP heel.
The silhouette on the Koios seemed very close to the CP, much better than that of my BS shoes. It also seemed that it would accommodate a wider foot without becoming a Stan Smith silhouette.
One of my biggest grievances with my pair of BS, was the way that they creased and how the leather looked terrible as it was worn longer. The creases defined strongly in the material in an ugly way (see pics below), even from an early stage (1 month or so). The inside dye also bled like crazy on my socks and through the crevices of the shoe.
Worn for 4 months:
So at this point I have worn my Koios for about 4 months, and pretty regularly since they are my only white leather pair. In terms of creasing, they definitely creased in a pleasing way, horizontally in the toe and not too deep. They have certainly been a decently comfortable pair of shoes especially if you are person like me and suffer from being a half size (9.5 in nike). Wearing a 9 in Koio feels perfect for me, and in common projects I wear a 41 which definitely feels a bit tight for the break in but manageable nonetheless.
The strongest impression I got while wearing the Koios shoes is simply how durable they are. The leather holds up through a beating, much much better than the BS ever did. I have not worn my common projects nearly as much, but I feel confident in saying that that the Koios could take a greater beating.
If I had to draw an analogy: if the Common Projects are Aldens, then the Koios are Red Wings. If Common Projects are the Saint Laurent of leather jackets, then The Koios are the Schotts. The leather isn’t “bad” per-se, it’s really very good but it’s just different. If you want a tougher but less luxurious feel, then go with the Koios. That being said, personally, I’d still choose a pair of CP white Achilles low over Koios even at as much as $270 vs $200 for Koios.
By no means are the Koio’s a “better” shoe, by any stretch of the imagination, even though several youtubers might say they “beat” CP. That being said, they are certainly a solid alternative for the price point (200) and if you really want to beat a pair of white leather lows to hell rather than nurture them, they certainly might be a better option for you.
Submitted July 06, 2019 at 07:27PM by Darkfire555 https://ift.tt/32aT48z
