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Few shoes seem to hit home with a local audience like the Nike Air Max 90 in infrared, grey, black and white. Despite a semi-regular re-release program (is this Europe's equivalent of a crispy white-on-white Air Force 1?) it just hits fever pitch each and every time that mesh, faux-suede and nylon mesh reappears. We were pretty surprised to see it in the showroom again untampered with - we assumed it might be modified like 2008's premium accompaniment Air Max in matching colours, but nope - here it is, prepped for another drop. The Air Max 90 seemed to be blessed with some beautiful makeups on its release - Spruce Lime on a UMC tip, laser blue, and the women's colourways worth hobbling for, like fluorescent pink and crystal blue were great - but this was the one, bringing out the best in a pioneering design. It might well be Nike's definitive colourway.

Nobody does it like this any more. Ownership on its debut wasn't out the realms of possibility, but whereas the following year's Big Window Air Max seemed more commonplace, this one held a certain rudeboy mystique. If you ever saw some older kid pairing this shoe with Chipies, or clocked a pair on 'Dance Energy' as some kid pretended to be into Oceanic and had a minor epiphany that one day you were going to own that shoe, you weren't alone. It's a perfect shoe.

There must be something in the spirit of 1990, kids who weren't even born then are rocking black-on-black Air Max 90s with a vengeance - that and the era's other envy piece, the Fila F-13. But with the 90, what other shoe unites kids on the street in Mckenzie with pub everymen, students, sneaker hoarders and nostalgics? For added versatility, the look is unisex too. It's easily destroyed too - most shoes look better with a little wear. Not the 90. It needs to be kept pristine - dogged pairs are the footwear of choice for agency chaps called Giles who put them on with a Superdry jacket when they're meeting a "cool" client. Like we said, it's got versatility.

The MX oranges from 2002 had an Air of Infrared, but the 2003 and early 2006 HOA versions were hot property, even though we recall finding both on saleracks - changes in air bubble size, cracking paint and the altered swooshes are irrelevant, these are still double-up material, looking like the 2008 versions to us. Decent. These are set for a June release, we'll be selling 'em and we'll be giving you a heads up on any changes prior to their drop date. Email us to be the first to know when these are available in store.