FROM DA BRICKS

Design your own at Nike iD

So I’d wanted to write something about music on this lazy Sunday afternoon, but my mind has been on kicks.  Generally I’m a classics man and would pretty much always opt to spend my hard earned cash on a clean pair of the small handful of Nike runners that can lay claim to be the greatest in the history of the game, but these caught my attention on Nike Talk and so I thought I’d point you in their direction in case you’re that way inclined.  Those expecting discussions of kick drum patterns should leave immediately: you have been warned.

The Pegasus is one of Nike’s most long standing and successful line of running shoes.  I love all of the earlier models (some of which have been recently retroed), but after around ‘92 the series loses me, becoming overly technical and losing the understated style that epitomises everything that was great about the swoosh in the late ’80s and early ’90s.  However, the Pegasus is celebrating its 25th birthday this year and to commemorate this those cheeky swines at Nike have made the Air Pegasus+ 25 available on the horribly expensive yet horribly desirable iD site. 

Basically the shoe features the upper from the original 1983 model, mid/outsole from the more recent models and a ton of fancy technological features thrown in to boot.  Frankly I couldn’t care less if these shoes can help me measure my heartrate (although they can) because they just look so fantastic.  Simple colour blocking and decent quality materials mean that all you have to do is keep your design limited to a small palette of colours and you’ll be the freshest cat on the block.

Now I just need to convince myself to spend £100 that I don’t have on a pair of shoes that I don’t need.

Check out Nice Kicks’ recent feature on the hybrid phenomenon

Given that FDB is really all about the music, I’m going to resist the temptation of drilling out a 1000 word diatribe on the current trend of Nike and Jordan Brand to fuse old models from their archives to create new kicks and attempt to keep this brief. The shoe you see pictured above has spurred the sneaker fiend in me into action in no uncertain terms: I’m begging you Nike, don’t do this.

Now it’s not even like fusions/hybrids have to necessarily go awry. Off the top of my head I can think of several shoes in the Swoosh’s history where the concept of bringing together design elements from a number of different sources has worked well (see Huarache Lights Bursts as one example), but this latest planned concoction is nothing short of a travesty. For those not in the know, court legend Andre Agassi held a long-standing relationship with Nike during his career that proved incredibly fruitful in terms of great kicks. Having recently retroed both the Air Tech Challenge II and the ATC III, I was understandably hopeful of a similar treatment for the ATC IV in the coming months. It’s the black/purple/white model that has always lit the fires in my belly, an undeniably fabulous combination of colours that was set off with the use of suede and a loud yet tastefully executed tie-dye effect on the rear of the upper.

Is describing footwear as sexy wrong? Most probably. Does that stop me feeling a genuine sense of arousal when gazing at this vintage ATC IV advertisement? Absolutely not.

Current outlook for release? Not good. Instead it looks like Nike will be combining elements of the two recently retroed shoes with key components of the IV in a release scheduled for the beginning of 2009. The result is a bastardisation of the aesthetics of all three kicks in no uncertain terms and a shoe that looks, quite frankly, hideous. I can only hope at this stage that Nike also plan on bringing back the ATC IV in its original form alongside this release but something in my gut tells me that this isn’t going to happen.

As regular visitors to FDB, I guess that ultimately you may not care. Sneakers may be a part of hip hop, but they certainly ain’t the music. However, when you spend at least half of your waking hours looking at, discussing and obsessing over sneakers then this sort of thing becomes a serious issue. Very serious.

Somebody please help me.

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 theAir 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…