John Kim 
Closing out this week’s string of Air Max 90 classics is yet another collaboration – this one in particular with Foot Patrol of the UK. Footpatrol first opened its doors in 2002 and quickly became the UK-equivalent of the Lower Manhattan sneaker boutique (the original Footpatrol was, coincidentally, located in the Soho district in London), and over the last decade Footpatrol has maintained that next-level aura shared with a select number of other stores in the continent. Perhaps the highlight of Footpatrol’s partnership with Nike came in 2005, when the store designed its own take on the Air Stab (right when the model made its long-awaited return) as well as the Air Max 90; the Air Max 90 was originally slated for a late-2005 release, but was actually postponed to a date in January of 2006.
For the design, Footpatrol drew upon trendy designs of the time, opting for the playful polka dots made trendy by Head Porter and Idiom, but not many understood the concept and criticized the shoe for being ‘too simple’ for a collaboration-style release. In addition, the first Baroque Brown release was originally intended to be a ‘Friends & Family’ Hyperstrike release, but Nike opted to release the sneaker as a Tier 0, becoming available at select retailers (Footpatrol, colette, oquim, Nort, etc.). Not much later, the Black/White pair hit stores as well. Perhaps the best part of the release was the special in-store event set up by Footpatrol; for those who were lucky enough to get the special edition tea mug from the Footpatrol x Air Stab release, an Air Max 90 cake was served up. You heard right – an actual edible pastry shaped and colored after the Baroque Brown version. The Air Max 90, like the Air Max 1, is a sneaker that is popular regardless of the collaborative roots or ‘general release’ nature, so there’s a mass library of other hot gems that deserve attention, but the five pairs featured this week are ones you should definitely have slotted in your internal sneaker archives. Check out more of the Footpatrol x Nike Air Max 90 below, and stay tuned for another collection of Classics Revisited next week!
Footpatrol x Nike Air Max 90
Baroque Brown/Black-Pearl White-Light Bone
313093-201
01/21/06
Black/Black-White
313093-001
2006
Photos: only-sneakers/CT
