UPDATE: 5/31/2011
Since this news article was originally released, Risto has now started producing a newer version of the Linea Blanca that looks much better and holds true to the design of the other Series 2 shoes.
Well Risto finally released the Blue Series 2 shoe known as the Linea Blanca. The shoe is made exactly like the White Thunder Series 2 but the styling is a little different, and a little disappointing.
If you look at the White Thunder shoe, the only leather pieces that are colored are the toe cap, the side stripes, and the rear stripe. This has the effect of creating a “white” shoe with black accents, and also makes the shoe look more aggressive.
The Linea Blanca seems to of been designed opposite of the White Thunder; appearing more like a blue shoe with white accents. In my opinion it is just too much blue and really kills the look of the shoe; it also throws off the overall design of the Series 2 models.
This is yet another example of inconsistency amongst the Risto shoe designs. The Pink Thunder doesn’t look anything like the other Series 2 shoes. A similar problem was witnessed when the White Thunder was released. If any of you recall, the original Series 2 White Thunder looked totally different than it does now. While I am happy with the now final design of the White Thunder, I still think if you change a products appearance so drastically you should probably make it a new model. Likewise, all shoes within a product model should be identical except the coloring… I mean isn’t that a rule within industrial production? (You save money when producing a product where all parts/pieces are the same with exception of the color variations…right?)
There was also an incident in which Risto could not produce enough wood heels for the white series 2 shoes. What they did have were plenty of black, rubber coated wooden heels that they were using for another shoe. This resulted in a small batch of White Thunder shoes being sold, much to the dismay of customers, with black rubber coated heels instead of the exposed wood. When you buy something online, you expect it to look exactly like the picture. That’s “selling products online” 101.
Risto is a small and relatively new company so I will cut them some slack but Ivan and the gang over there need to realize that a product needs consistency in quality AND design to really win over an audience. Speaking of quality, these shoes are of the same high quality as the Series 2 White Thunder so the performance is, fortunately, not depreciated by the inconsistent styling. If you’re interested in the shoe you can click here to check them out.
I’ll finish this article by saying that Risto is making great shoes, but if they plan on continuing to carve out a place in this industry they need to do a better job of getting behind a singular design and making it recognizable. The day people walk into a gym and say “Hey bro, see you got yourself a pair of Risto Series 3s, nice!” is the day you know you’ve created a brand. What are your thoughts on the topic?