FDB Sneaker Spot - Nike Retro Wishlist

I. Love. These. Shoes.

Despite the odd post here and there, I have never really contemplated using FDB to comment on anything despite hip hop music and related genres. However, with a newly revived love for sneakers and their obvious link to hip hop culture I thought I’d test the waters of what could be a new weapon in the FDB arsenal. Alternatively, if nobody seems to give two hoots, the idea will remain lost in the site’s archives for only the most intrepid of new visitors to stumble upon.

Calling myself a sneakerhead would be a gross overstatement of the truth. I have a small but steadily growing collection of recent Air Max reissues and other odd bits and pieces, but I’m certainly not putting myself forward as a serious collector or anything like that. I do however spend a silly amount of time frequenting the big sneaker blogs (shouts to Nice Kicks, Sneaker News and The Shoe Game) and discussing various shoes with like-minded friends who have similarly rediscovered their love of athletic footwear. Maybe it’s all just a sign of getting old as we communally hurtle towards the 30 mark: watch out boys, it’s coming.

What follows is a selection of three pairs of vintage Nike kicks that I’m nominating for the retro treatment. Throw in your two cents and let’s kick off (poor pun intended) a new series at this little corner of the internet. Props go out to Arkamix for a great selection of photos and info on some lost classics that have helped to inform this post.

Air Tailwind 90

To the best of my knowledge, these were the first model in the Tailwind line that continues to this day, albeit in a heavily mutated form. As always seems to be the way with kicks, original often means best, and it’s both the silhouette of this shoe and the great use of colour that make it stand out. I like the detail on the tongue as well as the hefty midsole bulge around the air bubble. There’s also absolutely no frontin’ on the mesh toebox. As far as I know these have never been retroed (if I’m wrong tell me), a damn shame given that they are such a vibrant, clean and stylish shoe. More detailed pics and the opportunity to buy these now over at the Bay.

Air Base II

This pair of Air Base IIs are a shoe that I didn’t even know existed until today. Holding a strong similarity to the Air Span of the same era, I’d guess that it was a combination of certain elements from these two shoes that eventually helped inform the design of the now heavily retroed Air Stabs, with the writing on the back of the upper of both kicks and the general detailing on the Spans holding a clear resemblance to this now popular, contemporary retro running shoe. The contrast of the purple, grey and infrared is a classic Nike match-up on the upper, set off nicely by the white midsole and coloured outsole. Check them out in more detail here.

Air Pegasus 92

These have personal significance for me as I used to own a pair when I was just a wee nipper. Like the Tailwind, the Pegasus has gone on to be one of Nike’s most prolific mass-produced line of running shoes, but none of the later reincarnates can trump the earlier, beautifully simple models like those displayed here. Mesh toebox and strong colour blocking mean that these are the definition of a clean, simple design that just works. Oh, and the use of fire red is always a winner. More detailed pics to drool over here.

Speak ya clout: we’ll see how long this new series lasts…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 at 2:29 pm and is filed under FDB Sneaker Spot. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.