JD Lincoln

On a recent trip to Lincoln I passed by JD Sports to see what was knew. I found exactly 1 pair of shoes interesting. And I’m struggling to tell you why.

On a wall full of blacks, greys and whites, one shoe stood out to me purely because it was a different shade of grey, than the other 37 options, combined with dark blue stripes. The Nike Air Max 97 Essential.

This shoe appealed to me due to its combination of classic Nike air-based soles and the alternating coloured stripes which make 97s distinctive from the rest of the pack. The fairly neutral colours makes it easy to wear with any outfit and perfect for both sports and social occasions. But where did the Air Max 97 come from? And what was it inspired by?

Designer Christian Tesser was actually inspired by the shape of a Japanese Bullet train which has then created to nickname ‘silver bullet’ for all 97 sneakers. He took the inspiration from Japan back to Nike Headquarters, in Oregon, to produce the OG Nike Air Max 97 which was first realised in 1997.

Personally I only find a 97s trainers interesting when they’re in completely different colours to what we normally see on the day-to-day. Everyone where the all black option which in my opinion has made then a boring shoe that I would unlikely pay for since so many people have paid the £145 price tag to look exactly the same as the person next to them.