We've been waiting on this one for a while now. The ACG name—as you will have gathered from past ramblings right here—stood for the best
Nike output ever. While we've seen All Conditions Gear merge with Nike Sportswear's post—Tech Pack pieces of late, and a 20th anniversary blast of good footwear that took it back to the line's genesis circa. 1981 way before the offroad range got a catchy title, we'd been waiting for some other great reissues beyond the solid Magma and Air Revaderchi retros. Anyone else remember the strange reappearance of the Escape II in lurid colours circa. 2007? Personally, the first chapter takes the crown. The perfect vessel for some of the very best ACG palettes on debuting in fall 1991 alongside a whole lot of classics like the then year-old Superdome (butchered at reissue stage with that horrific Max makeover) and Air Mowabb the ACG Air Escape, in low or mid form, embodied all that was good about the line.
Outdoor cross-training took a Nike concept to rugged new heights. Mark Parker's original early '80s Nike Escape running design took Nike's essence on an unbeaten path, but this one, which we assume is Tinker's work (he definitely designed the sequel) led the way for some other favourites like the mid-priced Air Mada (courtesy of Sergio Lozano, who later created the Air Max 95). This gives us the fix we've been craving. The materials aren't as premium, and the fit seems boxier, sharing plenty of similarities with the last—in fact it feels like the same last alongside much of that sole unit—Mowabb release. But if you nabbed an affordable OG pair off eBay, and had them crumble beneath you en route to the newsagents or in a more public situation, as many vintage pairs did, this is the closest you're going to get to a wearable option that at least gets most of the styling right. We don't seem to be getting the other colourway on these shores, though retailers in the Far East definitely are, but this is a shoe that deserved another moment in the spotlight.
These hit the store in October, but to counteract that shameless sales pitch, we've chucked in some old catalogue scans from the model's debut, back when we really were spoilt for classics in neutral tones with added pop, plus the wacky ad for the Lo, with a W+K pitch to extoll the shoe's versatility;
"The Nike Escape can take you scampering up mountains, dashing along trails, pedaling along bridges and through the woods to Grandma's house. You get the idea."
Comments (5)
I had the olive lows and they were the bomb in1991. The nubuck leather went shinny super quick made them look very cool, they were really rugged too, pics dont do them justice, Escape lows are probably the best nikes I ever owned next to the Purple/Black flight lite.
”the escape lo's are a must!
”My favourite Nikes all on one page, really want the other colorway, they have to release the lo's too. Sure they could halt production on yet more max 90's and release those instead
”The hiking/camo thing is so 1997, lets leave it there.
”I used to work in the retail end of Nike back in the day and I special ordered two pairs of ACG Mowabb's, absolutely amazing shoes that have to be my all time favourites. Come on Nike you know you want to... Please...
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