For our latest concept, we have chosen to work on the fan-favorite Air Max 97, decorating it with some of our favorite colors, in a manner that reminds us of childhood memories of a particular sports star. To find out who, read our thought process below, and check out our finished concept above.
Our concept comes in a burgundy mesh upper, with white leather stripes and a dark grey mudguard circling the shoe. White detailing is also present on the tongue and the heel tab. The sole is then comprised of a burgundy midsole and a white outsole, as well as a translucent Air Max bubble, revealing white support pillars inside the cushioning.
The aim of this shoe wasn’t necessarily to focus on our inspiration to the point where it relied on it to make the shoe exciting, but rather to create a great-looking silhouette that could mean different things to different people. Sometimes a shoe looks great, and it doesn’t have to mean more than that. That being said, our concept reminds us of the old Arsenal home kit from the 2005-06 season, most famously worn by soccer legend Thierry Henry. This is due to our use of burgundy as the central focus of the shoe, matching the shirt’s primary color, which paid homage to Arsenal’s burgundy-colored kits before the First World War, before they swapped to their red and white kits we know today. The kit is famous partly due to it being worn in the last season in which Arsenal played at Highbury, but also because of the star-studded team that wore it, led by Thierry Henry. I myself had this very shirt growing up, hence why it has become so synonymous with the color burgundy for me.
Soccer, or as it’s called outside of America, football is the most popular sport in the world and has led to many sneaker trends. From popularizing Adidas originals models, to Lionel Messi’s signature shoes becoming a global topic of conversation. But the sport has often had a smaller presence in the world of sneakers compared to basketball, tennis, and other sports whose shoes can be worn off the pitch. We, therefore, hoped to create a shoe that showed our appreciation for the sport of football, and for a personal favorite, Thierry Henry. But we also hoped to do so in a fashion that wouldn’t take anything away from the natural beauty of the Air Max 97, and if made, wouldn’t infringe on any copyright laws!