THE JOURNAL
Illustrations by Mr Ben Lamb
They say that you can tell a lot about a man by his shoes. So, do you want to be a guy who toes the line, or are you ready to take a step into the unknown? Judging by his output, notably for ASICS, Mr Kiko Kostadinov is no stranger to pushing boundaries. And according to him, a pair of sneakers is perhaps the one thing in a man’s wardrobe where they can afford to be a bit weird. “It’s easier for customers to relate to a pair of shoes than to a tailored coat that uses three different materials and has a strange shoulder,” the Central Saint Martins-trained creative director recently told the Financial Times. As a sneaker designer, he says, you can be conceptual and people will still get it. Speaking of getting it, here is this month’s selection of shoes to step to right now before they’re gone.
01.
Air Max 1 “Dark Stucco” by Nike
We’re living in a material world, as Madonna once famously put it. And the latest iteration of Nike’s Air Max 1 – a shoe that harks back to the same decade as that song – proves the point. We’re talking premium fabrics in an earthy colour palette. You’ve got your mesh base, suede panels and overlays and leather mudguards. Not that we’d imagine you’d want to get these anywhere near so much as a puddle. Though they will make your rainy day-ay.
02.
2002R GTX by New Balance x JJJJound
What began as a mood board of whatever took founder Mr Justin R Saunder’s fancy – cars, brutalist architecture, comics and, notably, rare sneakers – has become one of the defining aesthetic voices of the modern post-internet menswear era. So, it makes sense that the blog-turned-brand JJJJound has in turn turned (OK, enough of the turns already) its gaze on New Balance’s 2002R. Although, as another key figure in sneakers, Mr Ronnie Fieg, once noted, this is a shoe that comes “stacked with a suspension system better than most of your cars”, so it shouldn’t have a problem with all that turning. JJJJound is like: hold my drink. Equipped with Gore-Tex and lace toggles, this collaboration offer up serious hardware – even if you do drop that drink.
03.
Dunk Low Coconut Milk by Nike
If you like piña coladas, not so much getting caught in the rain, then the latest reissue of Nike’s Dunk might be for you. It’s a pleasing, sun-bleached cocktail of Coconut Milk, Light Armory Blue and Sanddrift, realised in plush suede with a dash of canvas and poured onto a vintage-style classic gum outsole. Best served chilled.
04.
990v4 Made in USA by New Balance
The v4 of New Balance’s legendary 990 line may have been supplanted several times over, but it’s a silhouette that is hard to dislodge from the mind. Certainly for Aimé Leon Dore founder and Made in USA creative director Mr Teddy Santis, who returns once again to the shoe. And this time, it’s like he’s drawn around the logo with a fat-tip marker. The colourway is deliberately subdued in white and grey, just with cartoony black outlines between panels and a matching sole. As ever, the Made in USA line leans into premium construction and materials, with pigskin suede deployed across the uppers.
05.
Dunk Low SE “Dusty Olive” by Nike
As featured last month, we’re giving you a second shot at these triple-tone Dunks. With a passing resemblance to the red-hot Ugly Duckling reissues of recent times, this is not a shoe to let pass you by. So go buy it.