About a decade ago, I was flying to LA for a job interview, and I texted a buddy who lived there for fashion advice. “Wear sneakers with a suit. Wear dress shoes with jeans,” he told me. I didn’t take his advice, and I didn’t get the job. But the suggestion stuck with me.
To this day, the trend continues. Sneakers can be styled every which way. Lines are blurred. Formal and casual are fluid. Which makes discovering and understanding your taste and style preferences all the more critical. My shoe awakening begins with the Nike Air Max 90s. The sneakers that started it all. The gateway sneakers.
It was the shape that initially attracted me. The chunk gives way to the layers of design, perfectly balancing the overall silhouette. Not too bulky anywhere. Not too slender. The pill-shaped air pocket gives the heel block a breath, too, contributing to the sneaker’s ability to disguise its chunky comfort in an understated way. They don’t look as comfortable they wear.
They come in 15 different color designs. Plus, you can customize your own. For me? Neutral Olive, Light Orewood Brown, Cargo Khaki, and Phantom. There’s something swoopy about all the colors, like they were just slathered on without a care in the world. Nonchalant. Not trying too hard. There’s just enough going on to play with various outfits but not enough to scream at passersby. These colors whispered to me. And that’s usually how I prefer them.
Notice the Swoosh. The Neutral Olive simultaneously blurs it while propping it up, giving it a stage to shine. I’m a sucker for any design that contrasts branding. It’s a risky move, cutting into the sacred Swoosh like that. But sometimes the tough route and the right route are the same.
Look at the detail. The way the sun pops through those little bubbles in the Max Air cushioning. It brings me unexplainable joy. The best kind of joy always is. And the Waffle sole on the bottom? Iconic, for sure. But it also makes me feel more athletic than I truly am—or need to be. Like I could burst into sprint, parkour through the park, and gracefully escape whatever life throws my way.
I put on my Air Max 90s. And I get it. I understand sneakers and their role in my life. I’m hungry to discover more.
Would I have gotten a sweet gig in L.A. had I been wearing them back then? Probably not. But I am often wrong.
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