What’s in a name ?

Not a 'Nike Air' logo in sight !

Not a ‘Nike Air’ logo in sight !

Sometimes you just have to stop and take stock of everything. Nike are having a great time milking money out of gullible Jordan collectors by re-releasing pairs a year later with slightly altered designs. Invoking the name ‘OG’ in vain, and deliberately adding ‘Vintage’ treatments to badly retro’ed classic pairs.

It’s a shame. There was a time when they would innovate and produced great, inspiring design. I had to set this picture up just to celebrate some of the great heel logos of all time on the Air Max 1.

Can you name them all ?

Kidrobot

krRare, unusual and just plain cool. Kidrobot’s are one of the most exclusive and expensive pair of Air Max 1 ever made. Released at Barney’s in New York and limited to just 250 pairs. These are have long been a favorite amongst sneaker collectors and Kidrobot fans alike.

The black, gold and pink styling was created by Paul Budnitz & Chad Phillips of Kidrobot to match the exterior of Kidrobot’s 1986 Maserati Quattroporte III Royale. Each limited edition shoe comes packaged in a specially-designed gold and pink box and includes a mini Kidrobot keychain.

In addition, one of five blind-chase sockliners packed in Kidrobot’s signature foil bag, will be packaged with the limited edition shoe. The sockliners were created by artists Gary Baseman, Dalek, David Horvath, Huck Gee and Frank Kozik.

This deadstock pair has found its way into my life and I couldn’t be happier !

Intagram-atic

Usually I am a bit reticent to actually embrace new technology but with a lot of pushing I have finally got into Instagram. As the person who put me on to it explained. “It’s like all the good bits of Facebook without hearing everyone whine !” You follow me : @aneks1 Here are some of my recent efforts:

Going all in with a full house, 7s full of 9s.

Lunch at the Maranui Surf Club Cafe

Just resting on the sea wall, enjoying the wildlife

Rainy Day

The weather had been going so well. Today is dark and grey. Moments like this I find it easy to express an inner flame with some simple colour. These are probably one of my favorite pairs of shoes. They are from 2000 which isn’t that long ago in real terms, but you have to think about time for shoes like dog years. Due to the unstable nature of the Poly-Urethane sole, Air Max 1 will only last 12-15 years at the most! So there are very few of these left in the world, less again in my size and this might be the only pair left in this condition. Rarity is only part of the reason to collect something. Moreover these speak to me of a moment long ago when a lot was changing in my life and new horizons were unfolding.

New Arrivals

Welcome to your new home !

 

After months of packing, traveling and waiting something pretty awesome happened yesterday. All our stuff arrived. Imagine a Christmas morning where you know that everything you want is actually in the boxes.

And speaking of boxes…..

Just the shoes !

Still a long way off actually having everything unpacked and sorted but the first order of business was to get something on my feet.

Same kicks, new location !

Pick-ups

An old compilation of my collection

Like most people I really enjoy the little buzz you get from walking around in a favorite item of clothing. Imagine being able to do that everyday. I never planned on starting a collection. I just got annoyed at wearing holes in my favorite shoes and not being able to find that pair again once they were worn out.

Some of my favorites

Then I went looking for similar pairs and discovered that there was a near limitless amount of variety to be found. New colours materials, designs and ideas all working off the same theme. A nearly endless source of inspiration and a world of exploration.

So much choice

Eventually it was the search and the discovery that captivated me.

But at the end of the day, I still love wearing my favorite pair of shoes……. even if I now have many many favorites.

The Great and the Good

Shoe Tree. Patta, Amsterdam

Not every shop is created equal. Some are much better than others. Whether it’s because of the people who run it, the location, the stuff they stock or just the vibe there are places that stand out above the rest. This is not a complete list of all the best shoe stores in the world. This is just a couple of my favorites, some are gone and some remain.

Flight Club, Soho. NYC

It’s a dream factory. If you love shoes and you have never been here then it must be at the top of your list ! There are several Flight Clubs now, including a new flagship store, but I still remember walking into this Soho store and being amazed by all the variety and colour stacked floor to ceiling.

Warped, Singapore

Not at all the sort of thing you would expect in a crummy B-grade Mall, in a City that flies way off everyone’s radar as far as shoe collecting is involved. But Warped is amazing one of the finest and most diverse collections of stuff for sale that you will see anywhere in the world.

Footpatrol, London.

A long time hero that disappeared and then re-opened in 2010 with more force and vigor than ever before. Footpatrol is great not just for it’s location, vibe and amazing Tier 0 hookups. The people who work there are just plain cool, especially Jimmy, who goes out of his way to make everyone feel like a valued customer.

Skit, Osaka.

Not the most famous branch of this infamous Japanese store. But the Skit in Osaka is cooler and more low key than most of the other stores in Japan. I was the only customer in the shop when I took this pic and the guy behind the counter had very limited English to match my terrible Japanese. He still made it clear that he was cool with me just looking around at their amazing collection and couldn’t hide his enthusiasm for the pics of my collection that I shared with him.

1948, London.

I know that a lot of people love the 21 Mercer store, but it has nothing on 1948. In my opinion its the coolest Nike store in the world. Back alley location, obscure branding and a constantly innovative evolving design. Simply put, no body does it better.

Its also one the only places I have ever physically lined for shoes. When I was foolish enough to head down early and hope to catch a pair of the AM1 Patta x Parra, despite being unsuccessful on that occasion I did manage to actually score a pair. (but that’s another story)

Which brings me to my final store… well actually it’s two. Gone but never forgotten the twin towers of Dutch shoe mastery Patta and Precint5. Legendary temples of cool footwear.

Patta, Amsterdam

 

Precint 5, Amsterdam

Flykint Trainer

Nike Flyknit Trainer

 

It has been a big year for innovation. Arguably one of the most impressive things to come out of the big ‘N’ in a long time is Flyknit. This technology which will find its way into a number of their products is a lightweight weave manufacturing process unlike anything that can be seen on another shoe. These Flyknit Trainers are super light and comfortable but also are an amazing looking pair of shoes. I’d be prepared to bet that if they released these without a Swoosh on them people would consider them cutting edge fashion.

Check out the video below which explains, in marketing speak, why the Flykint is an amazing piece of design.

A video about how the flyknit came to be

AM1 HOA

Air Max 1 : History of Air (2005)

In 2005 Nike released the History of Air pack with the tagline “3 decades of cushioning”. This pair was part of the now legendary Nike Powerwall which was a collection of 8 Air Max models released in 8 different styles or ‘colorways’ as they are referred to. The HOA shoes make up the top line of shoes in the wall image and where the most common release. The rest were much rarer with the bottom row only being available at certain select outlets who had special seller relationships with Nike referred to as ‘Tier 0’ accounts, in very limited numbers. (allegedly 144 pairs per shoe).  Because of this the shoes that make up this row are often referred to themselves as Tier 0.

The Nike ‘Powerwall’

Some debate continues as to whether the fourth row is actually part of the so-called Powerwall or a special sub-release as they were named Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS) packs in honor of the name of the company that was a forerunner to Nike.