As others have mentioned, Diadora chose poorly when it came to their selection of a lace supplier. Seriously, they must have picked the cheapest that some cut rate Chinese distributor had to offer. However, the good thing is that it doesn’t really take away from what is a great shoe. Replace the laces with your own 42” inch choice and you have a great all purpose kids shoe. Indoor, outdoor, team sports, free play, these work. A touch stiffer than kids may be used to in the first one or two wearings, they quickly break in to provide quality support. On the “normal” to “wide” side of the size chart, they work well for my boy who has trouble sometimes with narrow fitted shoes.