“You a bad B you yeah?” – asked the assistant store manager at the shop I used to work at. It’s 2019, I’m crouched down sorting out the Carhartt beanie display when I get asked that. I’ve got a pair of Air Monarchs on my feet in the black and red colourway. I was hesitant to wear them that day as it’d been a while. “The age of the Monarch is over. The time of the 990v5 is now.” I was considering retiring so that little education on the Manchester Bad B Monarch crowd was the final nail in the coffin. The Monarch had served me well during my time in Bristol but now the day had come. It was the pinnacle of the Dad Shoe era in 2018, a time when pairing up white tube socks and some classic white trainers would get you far. Far in what, however, is yet to be defined.
There was a time in 2018 when all the Bad Bs in your local area were wandering into Sports Direct and sifting through a pile of orange Nike boxes to find their right size. I know this because I myself did the same on my lunch break one day, not that I’d consider myself a bad B in any sense of the term. This era was loaded with bulky silhouettes, a much-needed change from the Sock Shoe era that had just been. NMDs and Ultra Boosts were on their way out as the Air Max series made it’s way back into the fray.
Now, in hindsight, I feel like the bulky shoe movement spawned the era we are currently living in today or at least the one that is almost over/teetering on the edge. To my recollection, the cycle over the last 10 years has somewhat been as followed: Vintage, Sleek/Modern, Bulky/New and looks to be like we might be heading back into vintage runners again with the Mexico 66 slowly simmering under the influence of fashionable Tik Tok’ers. The Monarch, particularly the fourth iteration, embraced the bulkiness of its silhouette as a by-product to comfort. Who didn’t mind this? Dads and Grandpas who’d wander in, see their size already out on the shop floor and walk out the store chuffed with their brand new set of kicks that’d last them for the next 10 years. Plus, they did this all before the Monarch IV was considered ‘cool’.
This bulky look went on to inspire the design language of high-end sneakers such as the Balenciaga Triple S and Versace Chain Link 2, both of which featured huge midsoles. Then Buffalo Boots slowly crept into the mix, with the ‘alternative’ crowd making these look cool enough for a larger female audience to be enticed into picking up a pair. Nike collaborations with sacai did much of the same with its LD Waffle, then building on that stacked midsole again with the Vaporwaffle. Meanwhile, the New Balance 990 series started gaining huge popularity as people were no longer put off by its high price point, having already picked up numerous pairs of Air Max 98s which were only £50 cheaper, yet nowhere near as sophisticated.
That year saw the Dad shoe trend evolve and mutate through the various footwear camps, all while the Monarch’s shadow grew smaller and smaller. I still own a pair of the original white and blue colourway, a choice I’m happy about considering it was rumoured that Nike stopped production on them in 2020. Although a quick Google search reveals that they’re still available on the Sports Direct website, albeit at the eye-watering amount of £57, and that’s their sale price too! I remember the good old days when you could pick them up for £32 pounds at your local Sports Direct. It’s nearly doubled since! Now that’s one example of inflation that no sneakerhead seems to be talking about. Long live the Monarch IV.
My original reason behind writing this was the idea that the New Balance 2002R and 1906R are merely extensions of the Dad shoe trend. Both silhouettes, had they come out during that time in 2018, would have perfectly fit the programme. Yes, both have hit the mainstream audience, but you can’t tell me that they wouldn’t look out of place on your Dad’s feet at the next family barbeque. Just look at the Up There Store x New Balance 2002R “Backyard Legends II” pair, the perfect Dad shoe (granted the inspiration behind the shoe is very Dad shoe-inspired). I wouldn’t go as far as to say as this is the hill I’d die on; it just might take me some convincing.
Side Note: Does anyone remember the MK2 Teknos – talk about a flash in the pan moment.
I missed Nike’s “Silver Bullet” drop in 2017 and being a broke student, resell prices weren’t an option. Almost a year later in the Spring of 2018, I picked up a pair from Depop for £100 all in. Result. They arrived in good nick, a receipt from JD Rochester crumpled inside the red Nike box. I slipped them on and headed to the library, 3M gleaming from all different angles. I was at the deep end of third year at the time, so dissertations and essays had me tied to the library. ‘At least I’ve got a pair of 97s to get me through it’, I thought, a minor saving grace.
A few years later and they were beat, gone, finished, caput, done out, pooped, wrecked, dunzo… you get the idea. I’d had them tucked away at home in a clear zip lock bag having chucked out the original Nike box out a while back. Rumours of a “Silver Bullet” retro hit the web around October 2022 so I thought, best fly the old pair for the fresh 2022 retro. I put it up for £75 quid, a decent chunk of change towards the new pair.
Few days later a friend messaged me telling me about some exchange deal that END was doing up in Manchester. I’d only moved out a few months ago so it was a good excuse to head back. After some minor digging, I found out he wasn’t lying. ‘Head to this Silver Bullet themed event and swap out your old pair’ was along the lines of END’s Instagram post. Sounds good to me. The train up would cost £70 quid (£18 of which I got refunded thanks to delayed train) but that sounded a whole lot better than forking out £165 for the new retro. Plus, it was for charity so it morally made sense as well.
Four and a half hours later I was back breathing in the crisp air of Manchester’s damp streets. The event only a few hours away, so I headed to my mates to kill some time. We drove to the destination with my friend inevitably queuing a host of 67 songs like he was sponsored. Luckily it was a short drive. Arriving in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, we saw a queue with some old friends outside this warehouse. The insides were covered in tin foil, remnants of what could have been a Salford’s annual conspiracy theory convention or even Chuck McGill’s house from Better Call Saul.
A projector beamed an animated loop that depicted a liquid metal substance transforming into the Silvy B, very cool. Inside, a reflective bubble bouncy castle minus the bouncy floor was where the swaps were going down. Everyone lined up with some crusty Air Max 97s in hand, ready to complete what most sneakerheads would deem an unfair trade, even if it was all above board. Getting closer to the desk, I witnessed a girl getting turned away cause of some technicality, people including myself were starting to worry, maybe there was a catch?
I was up next. I gave my name as the girl scrolled down a spreadsheet list full of names. A few clicks later and I was in. I placed my old pair on the desk taking one last look at them before they departed, many memories of roaming the Bristol streets were formed in those. They’d served me well. She slipped an OG 90s Nike box an END bag, handing them over to me. They were mine, the swap was secured. I stuck around for a bit afterwards watching an assortment of people bob about in their various Air Maxs, clearly everyone had got the memo. I caught up with a few old mates from the store and then trudged back home the next day. Dipping in and out of Manchester had been a daze, the docile streets of my quiet hometown slowly becoming more of a normality. I slotted the 97s away, “keeping them on ice” as some would say. What for? Who knows. I just know that I’ve got a fresh pair of “Silver Bullets” and I’m sound with that.
Back when the first Air Max released in 1987, people’s minds were blown by the exposed Air unit. How do I know that? Well, Nike have done a great job marketing and documenting this, making sure its Air Max line remains relevant for years to come.
Now-a-days, releases from the Swoosh still embrace that same Air technology, just look at the Air Max Scorpion which dropped in the second half of 2022. Recent models like the Air Max 720 and 270 were also added to the lineage, dropping on Air Max day in 2019 and receiving lots of attention, yet has seen waning interest post-pandemic (admittedly, the Air Max 270 is still a go-to gym shoe for many). So, which of these is the Retro of tomorrow, the retro of the future? Is it the Scorpion with its crazy sole unit? Possibly, but I’d like to think otherwise.
We need to truly understand how mind-blowing and crazy the reactions were to the exposed Air unit on the Air Max 87/1 to really understand the possible future of the footwear market. We need to ask ourselves as sneakerheads or as people with interest in the industry, which recent drops created a reaction in the past few years? We need to look at shoes that may seem wild and futuristic now, but will fit perfectly within the design language of 20 or 30 years’ time.
Just look at the success New Balance is having with its NB 1906R and 2002R, models designed over 10 years ago that look like they were only penned yesterday. That’s just one example, but even then it’s too close to its original. We need to look to the 80s and 90s, releases from 20 years plus which still fit in today.
Of course, the Air Max line was designed with a running purpose in mind. The Air Max 95 “Neon” colourway had a black midsole because they were a trail running shoe first, a detail that would allow the midsole to look clean after a heavy trek in your local woods. It may not seem like a big deal now but most shoes at the time had a white midsole, so this feature really went against the grain.
With that logic, do we look at the Nike Wildhorse or updated Pegasus line as future-retros that will have sneakerheads going wild? Old Pegasus models such as the 83 still receives love from the vintage runner afficionados and mainstream market, their classic silhouette making them easy to wear. The rubber midsole on the pre-2000s edition is also much more durable than its updated foam counterpart. While the latest 39 version might be way better for energy return, I think it comes at a cost of foam durability, as Lao Tzu once said, “The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long.” Therefore, in my opinion, the Peg 83 would outlast the Peg 39 by quite some miles. On the other hand, you can still see the early 2000s Peg editions pop up on eBay from time-to-time so I might be completely wrong. Chances are though that they were only copped when Stewart was adamant to embrace his New Year’s challenge and picked them up from his local sports shop only to remain hidden in his pantry cupboard after a handful of 5Ks. We’ve all been there Stewart, chin up.
Having considered these run specific lines, I would like to look elsewhere for a more promising suggestion. Keeping it within Nike, if we look at the brand’s most cutting edge division, it’s got to be the ISPA line formed in 2018 (Improvise, Scavenge, Protect and Adapt). When I used to work at the Size? store in Manchester, there was one shoe that I’ll always remember leaving a huge impression. I worked in the stockroom, meaning hundreds of different shoes would pass under my nose as I booked them in for delivery. That one shoe which I remember to this day, was the Nike ISPA Road Warrior from 2021. Granted, Zoom units aren’t ‘new technology’ and we’ve seen them exposed before thanks to the Zoom Spiridon Cage 2, but not like this.
The shoe had a total of four Zoom units, two of which were stacked! Not to mention the quasi-Shox looking springboard mechanism that housed the Zoom units, plus the assortment of techy straps attached to the knit upper. The shoe was wild and still is! That to me is a great example of contemporary Nike innovation. Side note: I wanted to try the pair on but we only had them in women’s sizes so the closest I got was a description from my stockroom friend who happened to be a UK6. To this day I have to go off, “oooo, these are bouncy aren’t they”, a less than sufficient description to say the least.
I recently picked up the Nike ISPA Link, eager to get a taste of the division’s technical prowess and believe you me, I was not disappointed. This forward thinking design from the ISPA division combines the latest of technologies for the modern human (enter “all humans are athletes” phrase here). That’s a thought process that all the best designers of their time were considering, think Tinker, Peter Moore or Bruce Kilgore, something which has been side-lined with a large portion of Nike’s recent output. Then again, the brand needs to sell basic logo Ts and simple retros to fund the research process. A process that went on to fund Kipchoge’s sub 2 hour marathon and kept it true to Nike’s “Impossible is Nothing” ethos. Back to the designers though, what do those guys have in common? Is it the socks they wear or the toothpaste they use? Unlikely. Jokes asid, what links the aforementioned designers was that they all created a silhouette, a shoe which is still relevant in the industry today. Sure, the Swoosh’s marketing plays a part but the product comes first (or so I’ve been tricked into thinking).
As we have seen recently, cutting edge thinking isn’t everything. Look at the 2022 retro of the Nike Air Kukini and its lukewarm reception from sneakerheads, the models now sat on shelves at 60% off and they’re still sitting. Madness. These were birthed out of Nike’s Alpha Project division that embraced futuristic design brought on by the turn of the millennia.
The early 2000s actually birthed a number of forward thinking editions to the sneaker world, such as adidas’ Crazy 1, the ACG Air Dri-Goat and the Air Jordan XV Moc, influenced by a cultural fascination about what the future would look like, a theme reflected by film and TV. Most of the models only gained a cult following, with specific parts of the world resonating with these releases more so than others. You don’t even have to look that far back to see a tech-heavy shoe flop. Take the adidas Springblade, a wild looking addition that saw a quick transition from shop floor to adidas archive. This is good news for sneakerheads like myself who end up picking up an old pair of Springblades for about £30 on the second hand market. Mind you, it’s definitely more of a niche pickup.
Accurate portrayal of me catching another L on SNKRS.
So that doesn’t exactly bode well for my theory on the Road Warriors or the rest of the ISPA division for that matter. While it may have caused a reaction amongst a small number sneakerheads including myself, it doesn’t come close to that of the Air Max 1 back in ’87. This might have something to do with modern culture though rather than the shoe itself. The internet and drained serotonin levels amongst those 15-25 have resulted in a lack of surprise and shock value. Chances are you’ve seen a shoe on social media before you’ve seen them on the shelf at your local shop. A shoe would have to be that much crazier in order to gain a reaction out of you, or some might be gassed with the shoe in hand but be less obvious about their excitement. This thought process isn’t exactly helpful, as it means that shock value could still be both completely relevant and irrelevant, depending on the person. A sticky one still.
How do you go about judging a future retro classic in that case? Perhaps new releases that have gained a mass following and recognition could be an indicator. Look at the JJJJound Projects, each time they’re leaked a shockwave is sent running throughout the sneaker socials. Yet again, this is only a niche crowd of enthusiasts who amplify this excitement and not touching the outer edges of the footwear-loving world. Not to mention the fact that they only deal with classic and iconic silhouettes, so it’s not exactly cutting edge design; back to square one it is.
As a matter of fact, the future could be less about Swooshes and Stripes than it is now. Fashion is closely attached to its cyclical nature, implying that these brands won’t be going anywhere, not for now at least.
Trainers themselves could completely transform between now and 2050, deeming current releases as old and insufficient compared to the designs of the future. We may not use shoes at all, the Barefoot Movement of today has grown since its niche following in the early 2000s, Vivo Barefoot and Vibram Five Finger lines garnering more attention each growing year. The recent Artificial Renditions are also worth considering, taking social media by storm with its incredible new renditions that suggest the future of footwear design will only get more dependent on tech. However, it’s too extensive a subject to try and relate solely to the footwear industry, I only hope that we use it wisely.
Image via HypeBeast
In that vein of thought, the Air Jordan and Air Max Line could turn into museum pieces, items only there for household decoration. I realise a lot of Air Jordans have been sold at respected Auction Houses under such a title, however I’m on about the models of today here, not game-worn Jordan’s from the 80s; different kettle of fish.
I recently picked up a pair of all leather Sports shoes from what appears like the 1930/40s period, a truly vintage pair that harks back to the days before Blue Ribbon Sports, years during the early Reebok days. They are truly for decoration though, bought for £20 at an Antiques shop in the town across from mine. Even if they were my size, I wouldn’t even think about wearing them because one, they’d fall apart, and two, they’re just far from practical. This might seem obvious to most of you, yet as someone who loves his old trainers, this mindset is one that only applies to this pair in my collection. Given the fact that I own a silly number of shoes, that’s quite the statement.
This mindset is one that could be applied to all my other pairs, not by me obviously, but to that future individual who finds them knocking about an old Antiques shop. They’d pick them up (unlikely to be a size UK12 mind), and think, “what a great display piece!”. They wouldn’t think, “Aww yeah, I could get about in these” or “Ah wicked! A vintage pair to go straight on foot”; and walk them over to the till in some invisible, minimalist robotic shoes that been invented by some future brand and has built in heating and ventilation systems. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself like the designers of the early 2000s, take a look at the Nike Adapts though, they’re not miles off.
I’m probably veering too far off topic now, yet I say all that to come to what may be some sort of conclusion. I think the future of footwear will factor in practicality and health a lot more. New science will reveal that people who wear X type of trainers are X% more likely to develop health issues as a result of the footwear they own, creating a dramatic need for change in the industry. Sure the human anatomy is being considered in the design of today, but that’s constricted to the sporting world and more specifically, running. What about the other 85% of our lives that are spent flexing on haters or for the time you’re stuck in office shoes that were based on the formality of the early 20th century?
Brands like adidas started this thought process with its Feet You Wear line of performance trainers and Nike with its Free line, boosting the Barefoot trend for brands like Vivo Barefoot. Other brands like Camper tackle the practicality with formality problem which is good to see but I don’t see them outperforming the brogues at Clarks, change does take time I guess. What I’m saying isn’t new, I just think the science will become harder to ignore.
Can I give you a specific future retro, not really. However, I can tell you the Future of footwear looks practical AND still cool… I hope. Otherwise catch me in a fresh pair of Air Max 90 “Infrareds” looking fairly decrepit and barely being able to walk!
EDIT: This was written pre-Yeezy scandal which saw adidas taking huge hits to its yearly predicted profits. That being said, the adidas Originals line-up was still fire, so a lot of this piece still stands.
Back in March 2021 I found myself having to paint the shed. This unfortunately seems to be a designated role of mine whenever I’m at home, which because the lockdowns, had not been the case for almost a year. Knowing I’d be spending the next hour or so repeatedly moving a brush back and forth, I decided to queue a favourite podcast of mine, The Complex Sneaker Podcast. The episode featured Jerry Lorenzo and Jason Mayden, two big names when talking the world of design and contributions to footwear culture. That episode, more than any other had left a huge impact on me and my understanding of the footwear scene. With Jerry Lorenzo having signed on as President to the newly founded Fear of God Athletics under the adidas Umbrella, and Jason Mayden now Managing Business and Creative Strategy Globally for adidas Basketball, the duo took to the pod in order to discuss their future plans.
“A lot of my personal memories of the brand are super iconic. There are so many revolutionary individuals that were championing the brand that were aspirational to me as a kid. The Sambas were some of the first shoes that I had in high school that I would wear with my Umbro shorts and Daisy Dukes. What I love about the brand is this juxtaposition in association with these high-level Revolutionaries like Kanye West, Mike Tyson, Mohammed Ali and David Beckham. The product has always taken a backseat and I love how the product allows individuals to shine. It’s always felt like when I put on a pair of adidas it allows for my own swag to take president. It feels like I’m wearing the shoes, not like the shoes are wearing me.”
-Jerry Larenzo
“My relationship with adidas was on the heels of the people who stood in front of adversity and challenges and authentically themselves. Flow Joe, Mohammed Ali, Run DMC these people crossed over and were a spine breaker. As a kid who grew up in Hip Hop culture you started to see the nuances of people who did not fit in, they made it okay to be other. So for me adidas represents more of an idea more so than a product and a company, that idea is individualism. That’s what I like about this opportunity is that we get a chance to paint a new narrative, where the protagonist is the hero, not the artifact. Not the product itself but the person. I think that’s important for the person in this generation because when they’re seeking authenticity, it’s really hard to be authentic when you’re chasing a trend but it’s easy to be authentic when we’re standing in our truth. adidas has always stood in its truth and I get a chance to extend that legacy into the future.”
– Jason Mayden
image from google/solecollector
What stuck with me was both of their takes on adidas as a brand. I had personally never seen the company in that light before, only having warmed to it myself the past year or so. To me adidas had seemed a little lost after their complete takeover back in 2015/16. They had experienced a huge peak but had since become lost, the fog near the top of the mountain obscuring their view of the path upwards.
Since moving and working to Manchester however, the love for the brand was a lot more noticeable. Working in the Bristol store prior to the move meant I started to question the brands history more and more. The Trimm Trab and Kegler Supers sat on the shelf of the wall with a vast history that I wasn’t yet aware of. In fact at the time, I’d never even seen the shoes before having scanned them in during delivery. I’d been drip fed the Nike narrative for so long that I was getting schooled when it came to adidas. Thank goodness it wasn’t all Tubular’s Doom’s and Deerupts! (praying hands emoji).
There’s a special place in hell for people who enjoyed wearing these.
I myself had started to notice the Samba gain traction slowly but surely back in the end of 2020, the nostalgic seeds for the model were once again planted by Sean Wotherspoon post his Nike contract ending. He ended up doing a few limited Round Two Samba pairs in 2021 made of recycled material scraps and were made in the special German factory too. You can now seem him start to wear what I assume to be his next set of releases that he is trying to stir up traction for. Here’s hoping they do better than the previous Hot Wheels release that has just dropped.
Of course adidas were retro-ing the shoes every year or so, similar their release strategy with Shelltoes and Superstars, however I can only imagine them doing regular numbers throughout this period. Along with the Sambas, the Rivalry’s were having a small moment in 2018 before adidas went all out on their marketing for the Forums and seemed to have reached success with the model.
A lot of traction also came from strong collaborations with the world’s most streamed musician Bad Bunny and rumoured to be Louie Vuitton’s next designer, Grace Wales Bonner. The Bonner shoes were massive online in terms of Instagram presence with all your cool influencers getting off solid fits in them. This undoubtedly had a trickle-down affect with those who either didn’t know about which particular adidas shoes they were or couldn’t find them online, leading them to spend their well-earned cash on the next best thing. You even had Harry Styles on stage in Wembley performing in a pair of red Gazelles. I only noticed this myself as I thought he was wearing a pair of Napoli’s, a shoe that just so happen to be my one of my favourites, as opposed to being a massive fan of his. Aha, Watermelon Sugar yes my dudes.
Harry Styles wearing recently released red Gazelle’s.
No doubt Lorenzo and Mayden had an affect across the campus at adidas with their ideas of the brand, igniting them to readopt their old ethos. You now see adidas being the biggest brand or at least following closely behind New Balance because of their new strategy. They have realised the strength of the crowd and letting them adopt retro silhouettes into their own wardrobe. Those who have an online following and a taste of their own are integrating these simple terraced shoes and making it their own. Granted, this sometimes comes through via a questionably tasteful 10 second video in which the person in shot will lift up their foot behind them and catch it with their hand, but that’s the future baby… or at least what has the biggest choke hold over the footwear market for the moment.
Great mini docs like these are no longer where it’s at unfortunately
Gone are the days where Air Max is everything. I myself was getting a bit tired of the rhetoric behind the importance of Classic and more obvious older silhouettes. The Shoe Dog in me wanted a doc on obscure Nike’s and the lesser known designers who made crafted them. Tinker is almost a rockstar at this point so why can’t the Swoosh try and do the same for some of the other designers. This behind the scenes stuff is something true fans of product are always here for.
At this point, even coveted Air Max and Jordan 1 models are sitting which would have been unheard of a few years ago. I believe the brand experienced the peak of this love during and post lockdowns once Netflix’s The Last Dance had had its huge cultural impact. The documentary had showed everyone watching why these shoes were so important. We no longer needed OG Sneaker Heads with extensive Jordan collections to tell us why, from their first-hand experiences and memories, because now we had them too! People who had never had a chance to experience watching Jordan play had now seen the magic and alien abilities of the man almost first-hand. The Documentary did so well to remove the barrier of time which is normally experienced through old footage quality that ends up creating a gap between the viewer and the art.
I was working in retail during this period and the want for anything Jordan was relentless. Every day at least 40% of customers would come in asking where the Jordan section was, it was madness. This carried on throughout the rest 2020 and into the first half of 2021 too. Thankfully or not, depending on how you see it, the hype train has indeed slowed down with 2022 being the year for adidas and new balance.
The generation born in the 90s and 2000s experienced enough of depending on the past for its footwear and put its own spin on it. Of course, models such as the Gazelle and Samba are in fact shoes created back in the 60s, yet given this gap of over half a century, the cultural and historical markers are less defined or at least more obscure as they are with 90s releases. Unless your Grandpa or Grandma were running track or game for that matter, they would have unlikely come across such shoes. It was more likely that you’d see a picture of your Mum and Dad rocking now-evangelised Nike models from old family snaps, than you would of Grandpa Joe hitting a topspin forehand in his Stand Smith’s. Even if your Grandparents were the coolest of cats, they probably wouldn’t have had the photos to prove it, funny how that works. So a lot of this nostalgia is unfortunatley limited by format.
Unless this was your Grandma, how else are we to experience some adidas Marathon’s in action without relying on old sporting photos!?
With the dawn of new technological formats, comes a much-needed shift in ideas, and one which luckily went in tandem with that of adidas product. The 10 second Reel or video relies on the fast and now, the old picture format which I would argue is still relevant today, unfortunately looks to the past all too much. You might see a picture of someone wearing a classic Jordan (peep @no.idea.is.original for what I mean) but you don’t have a 10 vid of them getting sturdy in some Jordan Aqua 8’s from when they originally released.
The cultural power has now been handed, for the most part to your smaller creators, ones who don’t seem to detatched from our own reality. If Rachel or John are running about their second-hand clothing business in a pair of adidas, then why can’t Wendy or Peter getting the bus to work feel the same way when they lace up their pair of three stipes? The power is in the people. Like Jason said, “the protagonist is the hero, not the artefact.”
She’d been sat in that dark room for hours,
the streetlights creeping in through
the blinds
like ants.
It would not be the first time
she would spend an evening alone,
the echoes were quieter that way.
Reflections of a loud
and jarring
energy from her P.E teacher
who was adamant on using
the school’s megaphone
at a constant rate.
‘The weakest are always the loudest’
her Mum would say.
Why then did she always flock
to the class clown, the brash,
the cocky, the arrogant, the overly
self-assured?
Was she predisposed to like
weak men?
Her father wasn’t weak.
If he was
he certainly didn’t show it.
He was a quiet man
after all.
The corners of his armchair
slightly worn away,
inanimate objects
playing audience,
the orchestra his fingers
reciting any complex emotion
onto the paisley embossed
print of the chair cover.
You could often tell a lot about
a family by
not what they owned
but
by the condition of what they owned.
As a young girl she’d
speak her mind
when noticing the small details
etched into the objects
in her friend’s houses.
No wonder she stopped
getting invited over.
Every time she did
that
family would end up arguing.
She always thought
that she had been
cursed with the power of
being overly observant.
It had brought nothing good
to her life.
She wished she could choose
when to notice things like
everyone else.
However that wasn’t the case.
So she sat there,
in that dark room,
giving her mind a much needed
break whilst her eyes were adjusting
to the light,
or lack thereof.
It would only be minutes before
the details encased within
would whisper their secrets
into her ear
yet
again.
Since Grime MC Legend, DJ, Producer, Actor and artist Skepta’s Nike contract ended earlier this year, he has wasted no time in finding another brand to keep his feet laced. What may at first have seemed like an unlikely partnership may actually have been the best move for the newly found music label and German footwear company.
We firstly got hints at a possible Nike collaboration way back in 2014, before any SK Air logo hit the streets of London (lots of people thought this was a Sadiq Kahn collab which could have been lowkey fire). Skepta and a few BBK members donned what looked like an exclusive all black Nike Tracksuit on stage at Red Bull Culture Clash, a subtle large swoosh across the chest.
This was before the Swoosh was coming out with clothing encompassing large logos and about two years before Virgil had released his The Ten collection. I mention this collection to say, after witnessing the consumers reception, there was a huge directional change in terms of design philosophy, adopting their ethos from someone who birthed brands such as Off White and Hood By Air. The tracksuit BBK members were wearing on stage at Culture Clash was supposedly designed by Skepta himself and had tapped into something different before the brand itself had even realised it. The MC even had a bit of a Kanye moment a year or so down the line in 2015 suggesting in an interview that the brand had been difficult to work with and were being finicky when it came to the contract details.
As we all know now, Skepta’s run of Air Max’s all did exceptionally well with is first release, the 97 arguably being the best of the bunch. All of his shoes had its own unique spin, even the “No Sleep on Tour” inspired Air Max Deluxe. Unfortunately this one felt most like Nike’s attempt to add much-desired traction onto a silhouette they had retro’d for that year (2018) only to receive a mixed reception.
After the release of the Tailwind 5’s in the two colourways, Skepta’s five shoe deal was over and he was a free agent once again. This was also made clear by the abundance of Prada America Cup’s and other high end fashion shoe’s he was rocking on his socials. Whilst he is by no means alien to high fashion, he made it abundantly clear that no sportswear brands were getting any unpaid shine till a cheque was cleared. Much to everyone’s surprise, he debuted the announcement that Big Smoke Corp was signing a deal with Puma. Whilst a large portion of his fans don’t see this as a wise idea, I beg to differ.
We’ve recently seen New Balance blow up the last two years with their solid releases of old models and great roster of collaborations. However, in my opinion this hype train can only go on for so long before it eventually gets slowed down by the ever-changing trends. Puma is a brand that has not been ‘on top’ since the Puma Suede’s had a moment back in 2012. This was the precursor to the Stan Smith moment that occurred shortly after that. You know for a fact that every teenage girl and boy were hitting up Schuh and Office walking out feeling funky fresh in their new Stan Smith’s. Many PE lessons were seldom filled with Bethany arguing her pair was better than Tallulah’s because she had pink lace tips, a detail she looks back on now as the birthing of her wokeness. #Slay?
Ten years have passed since then, with brands like Asics having their Gel Lyte era, adidas Boost doing its thing and now New Balance with their current reign. All have basked in their temporary time in the Sun, only to be eventually blocked out by Nike, once they had figured out how to catch up. With this logical pattern in mind, I think Puma is set to have a rise within the next two to three years. They have shown some promise with silhouettes such as the Thunder Spectra selling out back in 2019, a shoe which provided sneaker heads with a more accessible alternative to the Wave Runner 700 which debuted back in 2017. They also had steady success with their RS Runner lines which can be seen on foot in your local City if you pay close attention. Puma has proved they can successfully collaborate with celebrities as we’ve seen with their majorly successful Puma x Fenty line. Rhianna clearly does a lot to sell this product through the sheer weight of her name however the marketing for the shoes were also a huge factor behind its success. The partnership ended after the 2018 summer collection but this was after a few years of consistently high sales.
I see no reason why Big Smoke Corp’s collaboration can’t do the same. Skepta clearly has proven himself at Nike with the ability to resonate with sneakerheads both in the UK and across the pond. Whilst his choice of Air Max silhouettes was backed with personal attachments and memories, this was only a partial factor in the success of his shoes. Whilst Skepta’s history with Puma as a product may be sparse, it is no problem for him to paint a picture (pardon the pun) when it comes to storytelling. For example, it’s not like Stormzy was rocking Gazelles during Northampton away at Rochdale, whilst on the piss with the lads and tucking into a Pucka Pie (don’t compromise). Yet he still managed to make the adidas tracksuit massively popular again with his Fire in the Park music video. Both him and Kanye made the black adi Tracksuit bottoms practically uniform back in the run of 2015 to 2017. This just goes to show how an artist can adopt an entirely new product or brand and make it their own. If you want another and more direct example of this simply look at Skepta’s Ed Hardy era of style and how he embraced that brand. This was a total 180 compared to the 2015 That’s Not Me era of a simple white T shirt and black tracksuit combinations. The guy can undoubtedly switch it up without anyone blinking an eye. This being said, there is a whole lot more attention on the artist now than there was even back in 2015 so his moves are being increasingly watched.
He recently took to the art world with his debut painting, Mamma Goes to Market. This was sold, along with a curated collection from friends and artists, in London’s Sotheby’s. The painting went for double its max expected sale price at £80,000 pounds. It is almost as if everything he touches turns to gold and I can’t see that changing for in relation to his current footwear deal.
Now we don’t know about the final ins and outs of the contracts at the moment. For all we know it could be like the UFC’s previous Reebok deal in which we saw Dana’s athletes obligingly wear the product for cage walks and press events. This could be the same for the Big Smoke Corp deal as artist under the label may have to wear a certain amount of Puma product in order to be part of the musical umbrella. Think signing your contract with BSC, receiving the silver razor blade chain, then getting handed a pair of Puma Suede’s and having to remove your pair of high-end kicks you bought in anticipation of your contract signing. Goals? I mean I wouldn’t mind, throw me some Puma Rockets instead and we’re sound.
We can see Skepta already appearing in Puma shoes and clothing over on his Instagram. He wore a simple black and white colourway when making the short walk to his private jet and also during his performance at New York Fashion Week. Whilst the brand is small compared to the likes of Nike and adidas, it has got an extensive catalogue and rich history to tap into. Take a look in Sneaker Freaker’s Soled Out and you can not only see the history for yourself, but how popular the cat was too.
If Skepta and Puma work together to hit the right notes, there is no way they can fail. All they need is a release of meaningful collaborations and excellent marketing, the rest is up to sneakerheads to realise once again how cool Puma is as a brand. I do however realise this is easier said than done. With the support of his english fanbase alone, I think the people are more than ready to back him on yet another venture. Here’s hoping Puma’s new deal with Big Smoke Corp is a success for everyone involved and we get great products as a result.
The world’s not that big. Sure, it can take a while to get from one side to the other, but that don’t make it big. The only thing that makes it big, are the people in it. The ones who strive for a happy life, a simple life.
He would sell coconuts on the side of the road, the Pan-American highway to be exact. On the border of Ecuador he would see the various faces of the world drive by. Some would even stop for the green, hollow things stacked up on his plastic table. It was from a rickety old chair his grandpa had once sat on, where he would watch it all pass by. He had never strayed too far from the four legged, wooden thing, lay between his legs. Too afraid he’d find the edge of the world and fall off. Grandpa would always say, “Come back soon Nestor, and for goodness sake make sure you don’t fall off.” Everyone used to think he was crazy, they’d chuckle when he would mention anything about the edge. Soon enough the same people who laughed headed off in search for another corner of the earth, never to be seen again. no letters, no messages, no nothing. Soon people stopped laughing, their ears pricking up every time the old man would start spouting wisdom. People laugh at what they don’t understand. I used to do the same back then and maybe too much even now. However since he passed I stick to the chair, the coconuts before me and stay well away from that edge. The world is smaller than its own stories. The world is smaller Without Grandpa and his chair.
She said,
“I’m upset you didn’t dance with me”,
my englishness held me back.
Reserved,
too proud to dance.
I stood there on the side lines
watching the people have
fun,
fighting an urge,
embarrassed to break the rigid
paper mache mask I am still
wearing.
It is made of yesterday’s headlines.
I remember hearing the local band,
Humans together bringing the world
something profound with their music.
I was with my family,
yet again I felt it,
my soul being illuminated,
my eyes begin to water
as I pay witness
to the joy of people feeling free.
It’s part of the culture,
accepting the bodies imperfections
in how it sways and flings
to the pulsating sounds of
the music.
“I’m upset you didn’t dance with me”
I acknowledged this
with a great sadness.
She wouldn’t have known.
We connected through a similar
background,
certain values ingrained in us
through growing up.
She moved her hips more freely,
was this because she was a
girl?
a poor excuse.
she’d been less exposed to the
rigid culture that held so many
of the brits back.
“keep calm and carry on”
“sit tight, it’ll be over soon”
“stiffen that upper lip”
How can I enjoy the freedom
of salsa or the soul in
cumbia
when I have
constricted my limbs of movement
or my heart of expression?
Flags are free to move
however they so choose.
The wind encourages them every day,
but the long, white pole they hang off
reminds them of the duties they
must
represent.
The union jack dances the same
way the peruvian flag dances
in the wind.
I choose to be formless,
free to move
but not forgetful of what,
or who,
I am.
He waited for his train on the platform. It wasn’t the first time he’d gotten this particular train ride, nor would it be the last. He was familiar with gravel underfoot. The two yellow lines dancing too and froe as they always did. There were lines everywhere. Escaping them wasn’t really a possibility. ‘Don’t cross the line’ his Boss would say. ‘Please wait in line’ the pharmacy sign would order. The Nazca Lines out in Peru was the last time he enjoyed seeing anything associated with that word. They were more large-scale pieces of art, not exactly line-like in the common sense of the term. Fed up, he kicked the ground underneath him. This would do nothing except scuff the bottom of his shoe, another visit to the local cobbler the only outcome of that repeated action. Often, he’d find himself refraining from things that would cost him money in the future. Not that he had much. That was the problem. His mum had always told him that he walked a narrow path, in other words a straight line. Sadly, that wasn’t the straight line to success. If it was, it was way off in the distance, so far he couldn’t see it just yet. Although his vision wasn’t one of perfection either, avoiding the opticians had saved him a few quid but probably cost him more in the long run.
If only he had been born into wealth, he thought. Silk pyjamas, silver wear and grandiose halls would await him as his eyes would creep open. Instead, he woke up to the dim light of the streetlamp, his curtain a weak excuse for fabric. They’d be better off being used as shower curtains, or even if he botched up some Prom dress out of it and sold it to some poor student trying to make one final impression on the boy she’d fancied all these years. She’d make an impression alright, but it would unlikely be the one she’d hoped for. At least that would avoid any evening debauchery. Prom nights had the tendency for taking people off track. One night they’d be a King heading for a prestigious University on a full scholarship, next they’d be a family man working a nine to five at the local construction site, feeding the kid he abruptly brought into his world. Sometimes he wished he’d had that. At least that way he’d have a family to go home to at the end of the night. Someone who’d always smile and wave their hands in the air when he was in the room, that sounded nice. He barely got a glance these days. The old ladies stopped being nice to him too, that was when he really hit a low. When the old start realising, you’re more miserable than them, that’s when you’re really in the shit.
For the most part, he kept his heart in a zip lock bag. That way less people would ask him if he had one. A question he grew tired of. Course he had one. Silly question.
It was like asking the sky if it was blue. Yes, sometimes it looked grey, but even the sky got tired of being the same colour.
He would leave it sat next to him when eating his lunch at the local park.
The pigeons would bob their head and move in closer, thinking if they lingered for long enough, they'd get a piec; his heart an escaped crumb from a loveless granary loaf.
They didn't know any better.
Neither did the children who would stare as they were dragged past by their mother's hand. 'Anyone told you it was rude to stare' I'd think to myself. It was no use however, Children were curious beings. They probably wondered why I was feeding my heart to the pigeons, the pigeons wondered why I wasn't.
Regardless, it sagged over on itself looking disgruntled.
I should have probably written my name on it, across one of the semi translucent white lines, just incase I did ever misplace it.
How long could I go without it? There are lots of people wanting a replacement these day. Suppose I never got it back, that wouldn't be ideal.
What if the sky never turned blue again? Would the birds refuse to sing? One thing for sure is that the pigeons would still be hungry.
wear shoes, write poems 