These Air Max 97’s are THE pair of shoes for me. Released on April 13th, 2019, these were some of the first shoes I was obsessed with. I constantly checked social media looking for the drop date or any new information I could find. I didn’t get them for their $180 retail price but when they sold out, I kept watching. The price finally stabilized around $220 (give or take 20 dollars) and I was able to get a pair after taking a trip to the Coinstar machine.
These shoes were developed by the Seoul based graphic designer, Gwang Shin, as part of a contest run by Nike. A designer from major cities like Pairs, Shanghai, New York, and London were all asked to design an Air Max and the winners got their shoe made. That’s part of the reason I love this shoe so much. Having your design made by Nike must be a major accomplishment for these independent designers and obviously fire shoes were created in the process.
On foot, they look amazing. Being that the shoe is mostly black, you can wear it with anything. I find myself mostly wearing them with khaki colored joggers and a big white tee shirt. Even though they go with everything, they aren’t the easiest to wear. The outside has so much attention to detail with multiple colors, accentuated details, and light reflective laces, but the inside seems to lack attention to detail which makes them a tad bit uncomfortable. The material inside starts to poke and scratch at your feet with enough time. It’s gotten a little better with time but I should enjoy wearing my favorite shoes, not just looking at them.
All in all, these shoes have a lot of soul (double pun intended) and are an amazing pair of 97’s to own in any collection. As always, this is Robbie telling you to keep your sneakers laced tight!
Kickolls 