Weekly Roundup 7/9/19 - 14/9/19

On Saturday 7th of September, I passed JD Nottingham while exploring the city. The trainer section was packed with all standard trainers you would typically see in an English JD including a variety of brands and styles. Heres a few that i picked out.

I thought the green woven into the grey upper on the Nike Air VapourMax Flynit 3made the air based green sole stand out like a sore thumb and grab the attention of anyone who walks past. Elsewhere the third edition of the VapourMax model looks near enough like the same as the first two editions in the way it is put together and constructed. It does exactly what it says on the box, feels like you’re walking on air while being incredibly light and impossible to wear for anyone over 6ft. They also cost small wallet emptying £170. I’ll pass.

On the Nike Air VapourMax Plus, an itchy synthetic upper made the shoe uncomfortable to hold however light they may be. For £170 the classic air-based sole provides a bike suspension like cushion to a design that can be seen worn, with a matching baggy tracksuit, by the youth of today on any stereotypical British street corner.

Since it revolutionised running (or running while looking good in particular) the Nike epic react Flynit 2 provides, in my opinion, the perfect balance of confront, cushioning and looking stylish while you add up those miles. At £130 they are on the cheaper side of the scale compared to other running shoes produced by Nike which suggests that the actual running movement has been brushed to side during the design process and more attention has been placed on the aesthetics.

In 2019 every brand has designed a chunky ‘dad shoe’ and the Puma RS-X Core is Pumas attempt at said trainer. From a birds eye view, the left side is arguably in a different postcode to the right which also makes the shoe incredibly heavy compared to a normal trainer. Anyway the chunky shoe has taken over in the last two years and the Puma RS-X Core is certainly something I first noticed when walking into the shop.

When a designer at Nike was inspired to create the Air Max 98 SE I believe they must have been half way up a mountain hiking at the time due to the similar properties a low-cut walking boot and said trainer have. The laces are straight off a standard walking boots and the overall shoe is heavy and appears messy with all the stitching across the upper leaving me to question why people pay £145 when there are trainers leagues above them available.

Earlier in the month Nike released the latest Neymar Jr exclusive football boot which came with a black and red edition of the Nike Air Max 97 Essential on the side. Personally the colours and style looks like something we have seen several times before and the whole purpose of the trainer is to looks good on the side of the football boot and catch the eye of those Neymar enthusiasts. The actual shoe itself is a bog-standard air max 97, nothing we haven’t seen before, which is generally very heavy compared to most and usually, including this one, very dull.

For me the Nike Air Max 720 is a failed attempt to put all unique features each nike trainer has into one to create one epic trainer. From the iconic air sole to a new synthetic upper, for me the whole shoe looks quite dull and at £155 I tend to see way too many pairs when out and about; for some reason.

It turns out the price of having brand new but retro style on your feet is £140. But for that price you do get a pair of Nike air max 270 react’s. The shoe is another attempt at the chunky ‘Dad shoe’ due to the overlaying stitched on panels, in different colours on a white base. Elsewhere you can find the an air sole, common on most nike trainers to create one big spectacle that we have rarely seen before.

During the week Nike did what they’ve only been able to do a few time in the last few years, produce more hype over a release when dropping a shoe in the same week as a Yeezy. The Sacai x Nike release in ‘Summit White’ was made available to purchase via selection in a raffle for £140 with the resale price, due to limited stocks, priced at over £800.

The Nike drop on September 12th over-shadowed a release of the Yeezy desert boot which has failed to sell out in all sizes 3 days after being released. Since it was released in a “Salt” colour (light grey), enthusiasts on most online forums and chat groups have called the trainer “dull”, “boring” and “cheap” which by the standards of Yeezy (£169) is very true.