Olympic-Themed FiveFingers Classics

If there's one FiveFingers model that garners more of a following all others, it'd have to be the Classic.  It's my all-time personal favorite style of Vibrams and I'm not alone: just take this fan's 20+ pairs for reference.

Unfortunately though, it seems that the Classic doesn't tend to get the most attention from the FiveFingers community at large — or perhaps newcomers to toe shoes who are wooed into picking up a "fancier" pair of toe shoes like the SeeYa, Spyridon LS, KomodoSport LS, or Bikila LS (among many others).  I don't blame them: if you're new to the concept of a five-toed shoe, you're likely going to drop that $75-$100 on a model you feel like will cover as many bases as possible — and one with perhaps a little more conventional look (some shy away from the Classic's open-topped design for aesthetic reasons).

The result of all of this is that the Classic model is getting a bit ignored by consumers, which drives us crazy Classic fans a little batty.  More to the point, it means that colorways in Classics, particularly in the United States, have been cut back to flat black, which is most unfortunate, as the black colorway is probaby the uber-Classic fan's least favorite.  Sigh.  Just a couple weeks back I scratched my Classics' itch by grabbing a couple rare pairs via the aforemented uber-fan from the Netherlands who helped me complete the transaction.

Thankfully, I can only assume some folks in Italy love this original model, too, because Vibram (at least in Europe) looks to be planning an Olympic-timed release of some very fun and cool Classic FiveFingers.

Case in point, the above pictured Denmark-flag styled Classics!  What's going on here?  Well, we're only able to just start piecing the information together, but it appears that Vibram will be producing some limited-number FiveFingers Classics styled in various flags from around the world!  Which ones?  Well, that's unclear at this point.

What we know to date is that Denmark is definitely "in" (as exemplified by the already existing model as shared by a certain Facebook page) and it seems like the United Kingdom is going to get a pair, too.  Check it out (after the jump)!

A mock-up image of the United Kingdom Union Jack-flag styled Classic FiveFingers, a limited edition colorway being released sometime in the summer of 2012 for the Olympics!

According to BarefootLondon.co.uk:

We couldn’t let the Olympics pass without a special edition Vibram FiveFinger to commemorate the games with. The iconic Union Jack is there in all its splendour. Express your true British eccentricity with a pair of Classic Vibram FiveFingers, specially designed for the 2012 London Olympics and certain to become a collector’s piece! The stock as ever will be limited and should arrives at the beginning of July 2012. It will be available in Men’s sizes 40-45 and Women’s sizes 36-41. Let us know what you think… your views are always taken seriously

If you can't tell, we don't yet have a full picture of what Vibram is planning.  Meanwhile, since the only Olympic Classic colorways I've seen so far are from the United Kingdom and Denmark, it's hard to say if these will be available in the U.S.  I'll go out on a limb and say that Italy will definitely get their own model (Vibram being an Italian company, of course), and I'd like to think the U.S. will get one, too.  As is always the case when we delve into the FiveFingers rumor-mill, it's hard to say much of anything with certainty, so don't get your hopes up too much!  And stay tuned.

These Olympic-Classics will be pretty rare pairs of FiveFingers, but how cool would it be to have some flag-styled toe shoes?  I'm digging what I'm seeing so far: what do you think?