crooked tongues magazine News Features

2007 was an odd year. 5 years ago feels like another world and the Nike Air Force 1's 25th anniversary seemed to occur at a transitional time when people were burning out on all-over prints and the exodus to vulc was just commencing. The sheer volume of Air Forces that dropped that year managed to leave us with a certain indigestion for bulky basketball shoes — no sooner did we grab one makeup, then another 5 turned up. Bar honourable exceptions, it took us a while to readjust to that shoe — last year's Year of the Rabbits getting conceptual right, the Blue Denim representing being what a Quickstrike should be and the Strickland edition's no-nonsense quality caught our attention, then January's Year of the Dragons dropped with the 'XXX' lace jewel to signify that they were the start of the shoe's 30th birthday celebrations. The old box that dropped for the 25th was jettisoned on favour of a red and white number with a glittery finish that was significantly more glamorous and we were surprised by the amount of AF1s we were felling during recent showroom visits — somebody's been doing their homework. Initially we assumed that the Bespoke program had been offering some insights, but we're reliably informed that the design process for this year's Air Force rollout was a lot deeper. The key to a classic take on this shoe is to fill a gap that wasn't already filled, sound a little like a Raekwon lyric and just create that awe when it's broken out the box.

There's an aura to the AF1 that the Dunk couldn't match — while we love that shoe, we've had to call a time out on it due to the sheer colourway onslaught because the Dunk doesn't have the deep sub-cultural roots of the Uptown. For that reason, the Nike Air Force 1 remains relevant. It also helps that somebody's creating the kinds of colourway we've always wanted to see and these Quickstrikes are a serious statement of intent if you've been a naysayer with this shoe or had a lapse of faith in it post-2007. We know your pain, but all black denim and 3M are a deadly duo of yin and yang, linked by pearl lacetips. That's all black denim, down to the midsole too, giving the shoe a unique look that's totally tonal bar the swoosh and piping, and the decision to create the (almost) white-on white to end them all using Scotchlite coated leather was a move we appreciated (we tried to shoot the blast of light a flash activates on that upper, but it needs to be seen in the flesh for full appreciation). Sure, Scotchlite has never taken to creases too easily, but when it pops behind a light grey leather swoosh and heel panel, it's hard to ignore — particularly when it's on top of a green-tinged sole unit that looks luminous (though our attempts to get it to glow in the dark amounted to nothing). We're as surprised as anybody else that Nike found more ways to make us lose our minds after several thousand colourways, but between those material applications and the leather lining, we think we've undergone a conversion back to fanboy status.

The Air Force 1 should be treated with reverence by Nike and that in turn will result in appreciation from a new audience, even if the challenge of wearing a pair with slimmer denim might cause some difficulties. Alas, not everybody's wearing oversized True Religions like 2 Chainz or Max B. These delivered all that we want from this model and are set to arrive in the Crooked Tongues store on Saturday the 3rd of March alongside the much-touted Foamposite with the intergalactic patterns —it's going to be a big day for lovers of big shoes. And if you think that's it for the 30th anniversary, this is just the start...