crooked tongues magazine News Features

Just as the internet fizzes with talk of NIKE AIR on the back of Jordan IIIs again to make you buy every colour all over again, some other classics get modified. Again. Leave any shoe for 18-24 months and bring it back and we guarantee that a new generation will have appeared to replace anyone jaded with the same silhouettes. The Infrared Air Max 90 is a perfect example of a shoe that can't stay away, with the colour originally known as Radiant Red being a key moment in this nation's street culture from 1990 to the present day — except you don't quite have to fear having the shoes liberated from your feet at knifepoint 22 years on. January's drop of the Vintage version of this model (though they've dropped at a handful of Euro spots already) is flanked by this Engineered Mesh take. We think the extra breathable mesh works best on the '90 — especially for the switch in perforation sizing to homage the original panels. You've had the Free soled AM90 Current version, a Premium reworking and the Hyperfuses, so whether there's room in your heart for another redux is up to you. In an odd way, we'd sooner have this full rehaul than the unconvincing yellowing of a shoe that looks like it was left on the windowsill for two summers. At least the Engineered Mesh concept has a nifty commercial to go with it and at the bottom of the page, take a little time to remember how Air Max models used to evolve back in 1991. These shoes arrive alongside the OG editions next month.