What we like about the X-Bionic TerraSkin X00/C
SAM: We aren’t going to get anywhere without first digging into the visuals of the X-Bionic TerraSkin X00/C. I mentioned H.R. Giger above, the visual artist behind sets and some design in Ridley Scott’s Alien and Joel Schumaker’s Batman Forever, and the TerraSkin X00/C really does look like a Xenomorph got lost in a neon dye factory.
Since release, they’ve unified the colorways and added a more natural version, but my review pair is fully asymmetric — one shoe is black with white and pink accents, and the other is white with black and pink accents. This asymmetry goes all the way down to the Vibram outsole rubber and is mirrored in the paired socks. And sure, it’s louder than a two-year-old in a fancy restaurant, but I think it really works. X-Bionic is making choices, and it’s a little puff of fresh air in a market full of more or less similar shoes. It’s going to turn just about every head out there, though. This is a shoe for sucking in attention.
Speaking of the paired socks, the Terraskin socks are just as wild as the shoes. They have elastic heel and ankle support, raised ridges on top of the foot to enhance airflow, built-in Achilles tendon protection, and specially made grippy yarn on the foot for enhanced traction between the shoe and sock. These are good socks. They’re comfortable and fit great, and make running in the Terraskin shoe a markedly better experience. I did several runs in the shoe with and without the socks, and I will certainly never take the shoe out without them again. That’s how much of a difference the socks make.
