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For a minute we got a little vexed at the sheer volume of sneakers trying their best not to look like sneakers, blacking them out, coating them with brown hues, and cloning Red Wings. After all, if the brands had no confident in sneakers, surely they were shooting themselves in their wingtip-emulating foot? Then we saw the HTM2, new LeBrons, Lunarwoods, LunarElites and all the rest. That shut us up. Nike Sportswear seems to have a sample size plonked firmly in both camps - the innovative bits as well as the premium reduxes of staples. That's a good thing. We don't want to look like we're riding their tip too hard, but they're doing a particularly decent job at the minute. That said, we'll maintain from the off that we prefer the All Court (anyone else remember the retro pre-APC that no one seemed to bother with?) in low, in canvas.

Those with long memories might remember the deadstock vintage pairs, albeit in mini sizes, that the Crooked Store had back in the day. We prefer our Purcells in canvas too, and the mid has never really blown our minds if we're drawing comparisons with rubber toecap classics, but these are still pretty effective. Not dissimilar to last year's premium leather Blazers in their classy appearance, and perforated branding, but opting for a glossier finish, these feel like a hybrid of '70s simplicity with a faintly formal twist. As a collection, these are good - the greens particularly, work well. Weirdly, they've even got shades of Pro Model in the mix too. Having deviated so far from the formula, maybe the nylon tongue and heel trim feel a little out-of-place, but with shorts when the sun emerges, we're sold, and these should be dropping at 1948 shortly...


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