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- Jun 26, 2008
I guess, I'm privileged. I bought my first pair of sneakers with my own money in 1990. BY '93/'94, I was working odd jobs/part time jobs regularly and using that money to buy Nike, Polo, and North Face.... and Olde English, White Owls, and Newports... and music. This was years before NT; it was years before Nikepark. There was really no sneaker game to soeak of, just a desire to be fresh and an organic appreciation of kicks. Were there people telling me to buy something cheaper - maybe out of touch adults, but not really from my peers.
As is almost always the case, Nike did a better job of feeding the true "sneakerhead" before it knew that such a thing truly existed.
I was lucky enough to live through the glory years of Nike and have first-hand knowledge of how amazing and revolutionary their products were. Years later, a big motivator for my continued love of sneaks is the nostalgia factor. But, having held the originals in my hands, if not worn them on my feet, when the quality, shape, materials take a nosedive and are inaccurate, it just doesn't do it for me. It doesn't summon that same feeling.
I understand that most younger kids don't know or don't care. They're going to buy anyway. Above all, I resent how widespread and mainstream the whole hobby has become - that's what ruined it. Once it becomes paint by numbers, the architects have no chance anymore - we become a marginalized, minority voice, considered bitter haters by the masses.
What are you going to do.... But, just because people want to ignore or whitewash that history, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. So, sometimes we are going to moan about things. And, we are going to try to make people see where we are coming from in terms of our opinions on a lot of these retros. Deep down, I wish all these kids got to experience the Nike that we did - it would start to justify the currently unjustifiable hype around the shoes they feti****e.
And, BTW, I understand the temptation if it's your grail. And, I think we all have given in here and there when there's something we really want. So, I don't blame anybody who makes the individual decision to buy these. ...If Nike dropped the Air Trainer Max 92 again, I'd probably take it in whatever horrible iteration they did, so long as it wasn't a hybrid. But, it's really about a mindset and pattern of behavior as a consumer. Good for you for skipping the Bos. If you can't find the strength to skip these, then Nike wins that one battle. But, you can still win the war.
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