crooked tongues magazine News Features

Five years on since the last retro, and it looks like the buzz for the 180 is back. Trippy, seeing as the last round didn't fly, despite some fine new colours and an abundance of original palettes. In fact, that whole 'Powerwall' from early '06 was riddled with underrated makeups that we haven't seen since. It's curious that now, despite a brief appearance in the 'Maxx (and we aren't talking Sam Kieth's comic creation here), people are hungry for this shoe again. In fact this year is a big one for the 180. That Air unit is altered and the shape isn't a 1:1 repro by any stretch of the imagination, but we still use the Air Tech Challenge III as our bosseyed benchmark for retros gone wrong. We like this colourway a lot.

The best palettes are those that could've worked alongside the debut versions. The 180 is a powerful shoe to us. Those Cronenberg TV spots? Steadman art? Fancy point-of-purchase technology showcases? An £85+ Winter drop pricetag when we were saving for Super Mario 3? It represents one of the first times many of us had followed the pre-release hype building up to an actual launch day in our respective hometowns. Plus Keith Hernandez sported a pair during his locker room conversation in 'Seinfeld'. Powerful footwear, folks. Powerful footwear. It shouldn't have been languishing on saleracks in any form on its return - that can tarnish a legend.

Sorry for that trip down memory lane. Where were we? The fact this could pass for the kind of late '91 without being wedged into a themed pack in this Dolphins-style application of colours pleases us. One of the nicest 180s that never was the first time around. These are available to pre-order <a href= 'http://www.crookedtongues.com/store/footwear/nike/'>in-store now</a> now.