crooked tongues magazine News Features

This shoe was initially a controversial one for us. We grew up with the BW. We lusted after the Persians, shrugged and made do with the grey/white/blacks from the saleracks in the early '90s and didn't bat an eyelid when it just stayed and never went away. So many shoes passed...180s, '93s, '95s, TNs, 360s, but the Big Window just seemed to stay. There was a certain ageless quality to this model. So you could say that we were a little resistant to change when we heard they were getting alterations in the vein of the AM90 Current and Maxim 1. It just feels like a very European shoe, and as a result, something close to our hearts. We mentioned our concerns to Mr. Leyva at Nike during one of his recent visits and he dropped some science on the shoe that made us look like luddites - enemies of performance progress.

That one-piece upper and use of Torch fabric apes the source material, but that no-liner build isn't uncomfortable - in fact, while a modification on this scale took us out our comfort zone, it feels good on the feet in all its super breathable bombast and cleverly re appropriated looks. The real coup is building that ultra-lightweight, minimal upper to be placed on a series of Max Air midsoles in a modular fashion - we've seen images of the first experiments, but the possibilities are vast, and where it goes with the iD system is anyone's guess. This version, set for a release next month, and available to pre-order <a href= 'http://www.crookedtongues.com/store/footwear/nike/'>in-store now</a> now pays tribute to one of Nike's most iconic makeups.