Air Max Day 2020 by Oliver Thurston

ABOUT THE “AUTHOR”

Oliver Thurston Graphic Designer Sneaker Enthusiast From Liverpool

“I would like to start off by apologising to anyone who is a fan of literature, creative writing or sneakers really. If you have come here for a well rounded, humorously put together insightful piece peace  of journalism from a well educated, professional author - then I regret to inform you that you have come to the wrong place. Instead you will find some sort of self aware ramblings from a guy who owns a few pairs of shoes. So, settle down, grab a coffee (or a beer, I wont judge), lower your expectations and enjoy my weird form of moaning about shoes I guess.” If you want your own poorly structured yet somewhat charming article, illustration or whatever else may interest you in here, then contact me on oliver.thurstondesign@gmail.com or on LinkedIn.

Disclaimer: This magazine may not be suitable for children or a younger audience as it contains foul language & grammatical errors. It does have a word search, spot the difference and colouring in page though.

An open letter to ... Well anyone who can be arsed reading this really. Written by

Oliver Thurston | Liverpool

NIKE SPORTSWEAR

At this point in time we are facing g reat hardship not as a community or country but on an even larger scale. As the world continues its l o ck d ow n m a ny o f u s a r e wo r k i n g f r o m h o m e o r h ave n o wo r k a t a l l a n d a r e r e s t r i c t e d i n o u r movements. There seems to be no escape from the troubles we are encountering. Our T V’s, newspapers and social media accounts are full to bursting with all the anxiety inducing news you can tolerate. So that’s where this ‘zine’ c o m e s i n t o p l a y. We l c o m e t o my ve i n , q u i ck ly p u t t o ge t h e r a n d poorly written series of articles, interviews, p h o t o g r a p hy a n d d e s i g n . T h e a i m o f t h i s i s t o h o p e f u l ly p r ov i d e a few p e o p l e w i t h a n s h o r t e s c a p e f r o m t h e r e a l wo r l d . M ay b e yo u a r e a sneaker enthusiast and your here to fact check m e a n d a l r e a d y h ave a n i s s u e w i t h my p i e c e o n t r a i n e e s i n L i ve r p o o l . M ay b e yo u wa n t t h e l i ve v i c a r i o u s ly t h r o u g h my r a m b l i n g s a n d t r y t o u n d e rs t a n d w hy s o m e g u y i n h i s 2 0 ’ s s p e n d s so much on shoes and has to produce a 40 page booklet to justify it to himself or explain it to others. As a creative, sometimes it is hard to step out o f yo u r c o m fo r t z o n e . I n my d ay t o d ay wo r k I w o u l d p r o b a b l y n e v e r u s e “A m e r i c a n T y p e w r i t e r ” on a g reen back g round but look, here we are. To c e l e b r a t e A i r M a x D ay 2 0 2 0 N i ke p r ov i d e d f r e e to use templates and files to create a sort of fa n z i n e . A l t h o u g h p e rs o n a l ly A i r M a x D ay wa s a r o u s i n g fa i l u r e fo r m e ( we l l ge t i n t o t h a t l a t e r ) hopefully some joy can come out of it. So g rab a b r e w o r a b e e r, s e t t l e d o w n a n d b e p r e p a r e d t o s ay “ We l l . T h e r e ’ s h a l f a n h o u r o f my l i fe I wo n t get back.” E n j o y.

NIKE SPORTSWEAR

Liverpool Air Max in the city

Liverpool has always been a city renowned for its ambitious and iconic style since the 70’s & 80’s through the 90’s into the 2000’s and till today. Although Nike and Air Max have not always had a solid hold of the Liverpool fashion scene, it is clear to see that there has been a shift in the uniform worn on today’s streets. Nothing goes hand in hand with the city of Liverpool than football. During the period of European dominance by Liverpool FC, fans flocked to Spain, Germany and most importantly Italy bringing back the latest in sporting goods and clothing. Terrace wear became huge and part of the sneaker culture in Liverpool and remains so to this day with most sneakerheads split into two categories; fans of old school terrace wear mainly produced by that other brand with 3 stripes who we probably shouldn’t name in this Nike centred piece, and fans of a more modern looking performance brand. The shift in dominance came in the 2000’s when the street-wear and urban scene in the city adopted the Air Max 95 as there shoe of choice on the streets. Still popular today you often see groups around the streets wearing a similar crop of 95’s mainly in all black or sometimes a variation of the o.g colourway with an upper of mainly neutral greys and a pop of colour. Trainers, or trainees I should say, are part of everyday life in Liverpool, who has the newest, cleanest and most expensive has always been the competition and I think always will be. However too often you see gangs of 4 or 5 lads where at least 2/5 will have the exact same colourway of the exact same shoe. If there is one thing I see and hope will change while around the city is a lack of originality and experimentation with shoes. 9

Air Max Day 2020 Air Max Day 2020 Air Max Day 2020 Air Max Day 2020 Air Max Day 2020 Air Max Day 2020 Air Max Day 2020 Air Max

AIR KICK

MAX CHECK

How I started collecting sneakers. Through out the years I have always had trainees but I never saw them as any value or great necessity (oh, how that has changed). Now here is the typical cliché of growing up we didn’t have much money and I couldn’t afford all the shoes I wanted. But in a way it was true, as a family we couldn’t afford the newest pair of Air Max or Jordans and at the time I didn’t care. I had a pair of shoes for school, a pair for playing out and maybe a pair of football boots and I didn’t ask for any more. Over time I digressed even further. Shoes where the last thing on my mind. Working full time straight from school collecting a pay check I would still not buy the latest shoes. Sneakerheads where not even on my radar. I couldn’t comprehend someone spending 4-5 even 600 or 1000 pounds on a pair of shoes. The world of camp-outs, release raffles and LacesOut festivals where beyond me. And some of it still is (You will not find me camped outside size? For 3 days for a pair of green shoes with yellow stripes. You know who you are). Things change in around 2014 when I come across a pair of Nike Cortez on Instagram with size? Posting information about a shoe coming out in the coming weeks. I was intrigued. The shoe itself, not something that could be worn everyday. A charcoal Cortez (already not the first choice of shoe for most people) with an orange swoosh and faded sugar skulls across the upper. I was hooked with the look of the shoe, the hidden details, the photography, everything. So I marked my calendar. Set my alarm. Woke up from my usual student hangover and bought them. The beginning of an addiction spanning years and hundreds probably now thousands of pounds. The first of many and this is by no means the end.

Unsocial Media STOP DOING THINGS SO RANDOM INTERNET STRANGERS THINK YOUR COOL...

AN INSTAGRAM INFLUENCER ISNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T A REAL JOB. YOUR UNEMPLOYED AND YOU LIKE TO USE YOUR PHONE

If you think that I buy too many shoes. You should see how many Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve tried to buy, and failed. 15

Coffee Break

Disclaimer: Fuck, this magazine editing stuff is hard work. Now I know how GQ feel.

MUSICS INFLUENCE ON SNEAKERS

A ripple of a slow melodic melody carries itself through from out of the Marshall speaker sat opposite me. Everything you’ve come to expect the song of choice. And then it hit me. The integration of shoes and music is nothing new, if not vans or chuck Taylors worn by every juvenile rock band it is the 3 stripes touring the world and changing the sneaker world as we know it with Run DMC. Browsing through the collection stacked in the corner of the room you see the link musicians, Skepta designed 97’s, a variety designed by Mr West (unfortunately non with a swoosh but never the less, musician based) several pairs by Kendrick Lamar and not to forger a pair of Jordans by a certain Travis Scott. An impressive collection and one not to overlooked however there stands one issue with me, why doesn’t the music I’m listening to, match the shoes I’m looking at. When looking at the linking factor to the artists above; Skepta, West, Lamar & Scott, they are all rappers. Which caused me to ask the question, “Where are all the real musicians at?”. Yes, a tongue in cheek question at first glance but the point remains. With hip-hop arguably being the biggest genre right now does that mean that there are no place for rock based footwear colabs? Reading through “Walk this way: 66 rock’n’roll sneakers’ by Corey Irwin for UltimateClassicRock.com I expected the usual staples. A couple pairs of Converse, some vans, some pairs I’ve never seen (and will never see again) and I was not

disappointed. I moved past the first batch of converse with an occasional Vans colab thrown in, straight into a second batch and third. Who knew converse made so many shitty colabs... After finally finding a colab worth writing about it was soon apparent that this wasn’t a pair of shoes many people would see. Reason one is the fact the shoes only release at a Parisian boutique or the PSG football teams website (yes PSG, yes we’re still talking about music). Reason two, the shoes retail for €875. A black suede Air Max one provides the base for a duet between The Rolling Stones and PSG. As you would expect the iconic Rolling stones logo graces the mid panel of the shoe, I mean would it really be Rolling Stones merch without a full size pair of lips and flailing tongue? Looking back to Irwin’s list you can clearly see what I believe to be the issue with rock and roll shoe colabs. They are too obviously indulgent in the brand. And not the shoe brand. Themselves. Every pair would be emblazoned with the band logo, song titles, lyrics and even some album covers. A rock shoe wants you to know its a rock shoe. Compare this to the more recent releases by Kanye, Kendrick and Travis Scott and the personal branding is near none existent. In my opinion, for a rock band to have a real successful sneaker colab, they must set aside their personal brand and embrace a more indirect image.

A conversation between Me, Myself & I As a hugely inexperienced interviewer and an even more inexperienced journalist I must admit that undertaking a task like producing an entire 40 page magazine in a day is way out of my depth. Given that this is my first interview of its kind (and lets face it, probably that last) I must admit that this is the most difficult interview that I have ever and will ever have done. What was your first shoe? The first ever Nike shoe I remember buying is the “Day of the dead” Cortez. I bought it from size and it was the first time id ever woken up specifically to buy shoes. When did your serious shoe collecting start? I don’t think I was really serious about collecting shoes until I’d left uni. I remember moving house and buying a pair of white snake skin Air Max 90’s and a pair of rebel skull air Max 1. I remember specifically keeping the boxes to keep them in, which was completely different to me at the time. Most recent pick up? I got a pair of the white nylon Sacai waffles when they came out a week or two ago. How are they? They’re really nice. Not a patch on the first release like. I don’t think they’re for me though, especially not with the ribbon laces. What is your favourite shoe? My favourite shoe I own is a top up between my white snakeskin air Max 90’s or my black and grey Sacai waffles.

What’s your go to sneaker? 100% depends on the weather. If the weathers nice at the minute my go to’s are the CDG 95’s if not any pair of 90’s. What’s your go to outfit? Black cargo’s or chinos, slim fit and a shorter leg to stop bunching up and taking away any looks from the shoes. What’s your most expensive sneaker? Travis Scott Jordan 1’s. Hands down. People went crazy for them when they came out. Grail shoe? I really want a pair of Air Max 1 Masters. I think they’ll be my next big pickup. My real grail would be the white friends and family pair. Where do you see your future with sneakers? Hopefully I can combine shoe collecting and design in the future. Ill probably start small and sell some shoe related artwork and then hopefully take off enough to support my shoe spending habits. What’s the one that got away? Recently I missed out on the Amsterdam Air Max 1. That annoyed me. I’ve waited for them for months. Thanks, enjoy the rest of your day. Cheers. Good luck finding shit to write about for another 20 odd pages.

Travelling as a Sneakerhead

When you pack more pairs of shoes than you do underwear, you may have a problem. So, your probably thinking “What difference does collecting shoes make to travelling?”. Well the truth is it does make a difference and also I am genuinely running out of things I can think of writing about in a day. Company’s such as private label and sole premise have already capitalised on one of the issues that faces sneaker heads while travelling, luggage. With shoes on today’s resale market going for an inflated price of up to thousands of pounds it has become increasingly important to keep your shoes safe while travelling. The last thing I want you need to happen is getting to your hotel room and finding your pair of Off White 90’s beaten black and blue after being thrown about an aeroplane hull by the rag tag easy jet crew. Oh, the humanity. The stress of travelling comes early for a sneaker head, as pretty soon your going to have to narrow that collection down to just a few pairs. I usually aim to carry 3-4 pairs for a long weekend, 4-6 pairs for

anything longer. Non-sneakerhead readers amongst us may think this sounds excessive, but when you have to narrow down 50-60 pairs of shoes to take 3 its a hard choice. If you cant relate, imagine it as picking your favourite child, we know you have a favourite but do you really want to take them away with you? Maybe not the best example but I’ve set a deadline and I’ve already missed it. Normally a city break consists of locale amenities, strange foods and sight seeing tours. However a sneakerheads city break is planned around what shoe and street-wear shops are around, what shoes can I wear to impress them and how many shops can I get away with going too before my girlfriend gives me the ultimatum...”Its me or the sneakers”. Yep, that lines going to get me in trouble. Make sure you grab next months copy to see how I’m dealing with single life... There are so many things you need to consider when travelling with your sneakers, how are you going to pack them? Checking the weather, carrying cleaning products and planning out routes even down to dedicating entire corners of your hotel room to your shoes. 25

I present

Air Max Day 2020

Behind closed doors

NIKE SPORTSWEAR

26.3. The 26th March for many is just another day in the calendar. Another day in these crazy times we currently find ourselves in. Yet for Nike heads the date is slightly more significant than most. This date marks the release of something, an idea, a new technology that would change shoes, sport, fashion and businesses. Today Nike released the Air Max 1 to the public. Designed in the image of the famous centre Pompidou by legendary shoe designer Tinker Hatfield. However the design was met with much criticism & doubt over the validity of the shoe. So why was a shoe that we know so well today met with such scepticism? Looking back through the history of shoes, what separates the Air Max 1 from the rest of the training shoes on the market? In 1987 the Air Max 1 became the first commercially released shoe with a visible air bubble. People held reluctance to a shoe that you could look at and see the other side. They where cautions that the air bag would burst under the weight of a person, they feared that the bubble may be punctured and the general stability of a shoe with what was essentially I hole in the side. The fear was generally unjust as Nike had been using air in previous releases such as the tailwind that had been release 9 years prior. Despite this the window through to the air bubble really caused a stir in the industry, a stir that prompted such releases as the Air Max 90, 95 and creating a stepping stone for a more modern looking Vapormax model. Because of this revolutionary release, sneakerheads and companies across the world celebrate the date with releases new collaborations and curated content. So this year hit a bit differently for several reasons. First and foremost the usual spots and events we, as a community would usually visit where closed because of that reason we’re all trying to escape from. We’ll glaze over that and continue I think... Secondly, ain’t no one entering raffles for them gold, silver & bronze river island looking numbers. Nah, come on we can do better. In all truths, the best thing Nike released this Air Max day this magazine template... Thankfully for Nike, Goat came to our rescue, bringing out the big guns offering; Off White colabs, Infareds, Silver bullets and Sean Wotherspoons for $3.26 (that’s £2.62 in our money). What an amazing opportunity! Let me open the Goat App and buy some...Oh wait the app has crashed. Aaaaand now they’re sold out. Great. So there it is, a celebration I, personally, have looked forward to for best part of a year spent with a slight hangover, refreshing a broken app with the faint hope of finding a good deal. Ahh well, maybe next year...

NIKE ID mars yard

One of the most popular shoes among sneaker enthusiasts is the Mars Yard. Released in a few variations: Mars Yard 1.0, 2.0, Overshoe and even an SB version. Something that has been missing from the line up is a selection of Air Max classics that would undoubtedly sell out and be hugely popular on the resale market. For the celebration of Air Max Day 2020 I have recreated the iconic colourway on the Air Max 1 and Air Max 90 models.

Latest Visuals

Disclaimer: Yes, I know this is not “sneaker” or Air Max related, but I’m running out of content I can produce in a day and its kinda cool, so get off my back. It stays.

The beaters

The still got life in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;em

The collector

The hypebeast

Have you ever resold sneakers? 8 things you always see on Depop

The weird merch

The low ballers

The what did you say?

The Grails

Nothing holds a roller-coaster of emotions like Depop. The peer to peer trading platform has everything you can wish for; second hand clothing, records, collectables and sneakers. But for every pair of Dead-stock Sean Wotherspoons 97’s there is 10 people all trying to undercut each-other and send offers near half the asking price. To this day I am amazed by some of the awful condition shoes are posted in with a grading of good. No Mark from Tottenham, your “mad garmz” are not 7/10 condition. They have a hole in the toe. And they’re shit. On a brighter note go check my Depop and but some of my shoes, they’re not shit. Honest. 33

SPOT 5 DIFFERENCES

SPOT 5 DIFFERENCES 35

c f m o k t a i e s s I e x c o a b l m

t t p r a r c q a s

airmax box cop deadstock drop

e i v m e a l n c i

l n d a l f u i v z

e k e x e f s k d e

eyelet exclusive infared laces nike

y e w b r l i e r h

e r q n k e v n o g

s i n f a r e d p l

g k c o t s d a e d

og raffle release size tinker

Air Max 1

Design your own colourway or try your take on a classic

NIKE SPORTSWEAR

Air Max Day 2020

Articles inside

Air Max Day 2020