Brendan Dunne 
Our top 20 train is going to keep on chugging today, with the Sneaker News editors coming out from behind the scenes to a certain extent to shed a little bit of light on our own personal preferences and history when it comes to this whole footwear thing. Of course we’re doing so together with the folks over at Sneakerpedia, uploading the most prized items from our own collection onto their massive site, in turn helping to push them a bit closer towards that goal of creating the world’s definitive sneaker encyclopedia.
Fortunately for me I was put through a sort of mini-version of this test already in real life, having recently made a coast to coast move that forced me to shove the majority of my collection away into my brother’s closet and whittle things down to the bare essentials. In those moments of careful culling I was forced to put a fair amount of thought into creating some sort of Nick Hornby-esque desert island top five of sneakers. In the end that group isn’t exactly in line with this group, but they do share quite a few members. Click through as I take you through a journey of pairs, some left of field and some expected, that constitute my top 20 and please note that I’ll be taking on all trolls in the comments below. Just kidding. But seriously, check the list out.
20. Nike SB Air Zoom FC
The first pair of Nike SB’s I ever owned. Reflecting on these I am totally uncertain as to where exactly I picked them up because there were certainly no skate shops in my area at the time. If memory serves me I bought them up at some random discount style store at least a year after their initial release. I had my hands on the Barcelona colorway back in the day, one I unfortunately couldn’t locate for photos sake but I always had an eye for these ones too as they had that sort of ‘Vamp’ look them despite being a Manchester tie in.
Aside from being a special pair as my first ever Nike SB pick up, the Nike SB Air Zoom FC is one of many ‘event sneakers’ for me, pairs that will be forever tied to a certain happening or time period in my life. The event in question is a pretty embarrassing one so I won’t go too far into the details but it definitely involved me on stage with a microphone. I’m not sure what ever became of my Barcelona pair but they will forever remind me of that specific event and my beginnings with the Nike SB lineup.
19. Nike Roshe Run – Black/White
As John alluded to back in his top 20 it does feel a bit awkward giving up a slot to a silo so recently released, but if any model from the past couple of years deserves it then the Roshe is it for me. The sneaker was a sort of hard one to grasp at first, with the off feet shots that we initially got glances of not really doing it justice. In that context the sneaker sort of just sits there deflated, with that pliable upper awkwardly draped over the chunky outsole. But then you put them on or you see someone wearing them and it all makes sense, that lightweight design fills out and you can feel the crazy ventilation and all of a sudden you’re amazed that just picked them up for a measly $70 (or less if you’re lucky).
What’s more it was really cool how the shoe arrived, no early catalog shots if I remember correctly, no real release date, they just sort of popped up in stores and online and people had to figure it out for themselves how awesome they were without anyone really cramming it down their throats. I think Nike has caught on since then and I’m slightly nervous about what will happen to the sneaker next year given that side Swoosh looking 2013 prototype and the powerlines equipped ‘upgrade’ but at the very least I’ll have the original offering to remind me of this strange moment where a sneaker swerved around hype hysteria, showed up unannounced, and completely wowed people over. I’ve got a couple pairs but I went with the straightforward black and white for my selection here, it being the one I’ve gotten the most mileage out of to date. Also: if I can ever grab one like the pair above with a 3M Swoosh I will die of happiness.
18. Air Jordan XI ‘Cool Grey’
Let the hypebeast accusations begin. Obviously the Air Jordan XI is an incredible shoe. Obviously Tinker Hatfield changed the game with the whole luxury feel as applied to a basketball sneaker. After all, thousands of holiday shoppers and sneaker-forum posters couldn’t be wrong. The Air Jordan XI is on of those silhouettes that just refuses to be left out of the conversation, popping up once a year on everyone’s Christmas list and inevitably a couple sneaker-riot news reports as well.
And maybe it’s just me, but it’s not exactly an easy shoe to wear. All that shininess is more often than not too much for me to pull off, unless we’re talking about the ‘Cool Grey’ version. As you’ll see later on in this list, I’m really into grey-ed out sneakers in general, with this immortal Air Jordan XI colorway setting the bar pretty high as far as just how sublime the right set of greys can look on a sneaker. Yeah the OG colorups have all that historical significance that may resonate a bit more with some but I’ll take the ‘Cool Grey’ over pretty much of all those because I can slip them on without feeling like too much of a goofball.
17. Air Jordan VI ‘Infrared’
The run from Air Jordans III to right Around VI has to be the best in sneaker history, the front end of that series being a huge step up from the Air Jordan II (no offense to Peter Moore) and keeping MJ back around and the tail end being the first sneaker that he ever captured a championship in. While I think a lot of Air Jordan’s, and sneakers from that era at large, convey that 90’s aesthetic super well the Air Jordan VI is one that manages to still feel futuristic after all these years.
Maybe it’s the Huarache style innards, or the icy soles, or the higher hitting moon boot sort of silhouette, or maybe it’s just that all important Infrared color. How much does it say about the power of that singular shade that an innocent mis-labeling in the world of online sneaker folk will get you laughed out of the room?
16. Air Jordan III ‘Cool Grey’
I think that by now the ‘Cool Grey’ thing has definitely been done to death, with probably too many Air Jordan models picking up on that theme first established by the Air Jordan XI that’s a few spots back on this list. The one pair that I do think pulled it off the best though was this, the Air Jordan III ‘Cool Grey’ from back in 2007.
In general I love III’s so maybe I’m a bit biased but this pair had the right mixture of elements from the already established Cool Grey formula and new little details, namely the orange peel and sport red sections. What’s more I think it’s really hard for the Air Jordan III to look good sans the traditional leather approach but this was one of the few to do it. My pair has the dreaded paint chip situation going on on the midsoles at this point but I have the feeling I’ll be putting plenty more wear into them in the years to come.
15. New Balance 996
I know I’m already in danger of going over my allotted number of usages for the word “grey” in one post but here it goes anyway. The New Balance 996 in this colorway is kind of the epitome of a boring sneaker, and that’s why I like it. There’s no real color pop to be had, no specific design element that pushes it too far away from its big-N relatives, just pure suede and mesh with a little bit of reflective paneling.
To me this sneaker just occupies that beautiful baseline of pairs that can blend in but still look and feel amazing. Also it’s another one of those ones that I think it made so much cooler just by the range of people that wear it, sort of the “Dad Fashion” idea that Aaron touched on in his list. Plus they’re made in the USA so what’s not to like about that?
14. Nike Air Burst
The Nike Air Burst is one of those models that seems strangely overlooked in the whole pantheon of bubble bottomed runners (I’m looking at you, Complex for leaving this off the Top 20 Air Maxes of All Time list). I know it doesn’t have the marquee colorway potential of its yearly designated brethren but come on people, just look at that Air Max unit. My lineup for this silo is admittedly pretty slim, but I find myself on eBay plenty of nights lusting after those Air Max 1 mimicking red and blue pairs or the all important hemp/crepe version. Pictured here is the pair that I’ve got in my rotation at the moment, one that I’m cherishing as much as possible before the back end makes like the shoe name and straight up explodes on me.
13. Nike Air Max 1 ‘Scuba Blue’
This pair released just a short two years ago but I’ve been rocking them steadily ever since, and they still stand as probably my favorite of the non-OG Air Max 1 colorways I own. Obviously it wasn’t any type of limited release or anything but I got caught sleeping on these and once I decided to go ahead and pick them up I was sort of in a panic for a few days because it seemed like all my go to spots had been cleared out. I eventually ended up grabbing them on a phone order from Rock City Kicks and being able to breathe easy (and enjoying the eventual irony of the decent number of pairs readily available at the outlets).
To me this colorway is so awesome because it carries that same simplicity of the OG red and blues, mixing things up just a little bit in terms of the blocking and bringing that icy scuba blue that looks especially awesome onto the air bag. While it’s not some super coveted collabo crafted by the coolest of Japanese retailers and probably isn’t even on the radar of most, I can say with confidence that this pair is one of my favorite Nike Air Max 1’s out there.
12. Air Jordan V ‘Metallic’
The Air Jordan V for me is the sneaker that sort of best captures that whole Tinker Hatfield design mythology. You hear all these stories about the Air Jordan XI being inspired by a lawnmower or the Nike Air Safari being inspired by a sofa, but to me the Air Jordan V is one of those rare models whose design DNA still really shines through in the final product thanks to those fighter jet teeth angled across the bottom.
The ‘Metallic’ colorway has always been my favorite because of the sort of backwards way it approached the whole Chicago Bulls palette, using barely any red in its makeup and letting this cool silvery black pairing dominated the shoe. No ‘Nike Air’ pairs in my collection but I’ve managed to make due with the most recent retro releases.
11. Nike SB Dunk Low ‘Border Blue’
This is another one of those sneakers connected with a specific period in my life, no doubt launching it up higher than it would regular be based off the merits of the colorway alone. Not to say that it’s not a nice one, the gum sole is obviously huge and the way that sky blue suede fell into the chunkier blue of the midsole was always awesome to me. More important though was that they were a pair obtained when I lived in Europe for a brief period of time (more on that later), one that I had randomly picked up from CaliRoots online shipped out to Spain where I was living at the time.
For the majority of that 6 month period of my life I kept a very slim and beat down selection of sneaks, but I managed to preserve these pretty well for the second half of that saga, pulling them out only when I knew they weren’t going to be put through the elements. Of course they’re suede sneakers so they ended up picking up the inevitable scars along the way but I still cherish them as a relic from a very specific time in my life where a lot of crazy stuff happened. I even owned blue pants to match at one point. Let us never speak of that again.
10. Air Jordan IV ‘White/Cement’
How impossible must it have seemed to top the Air Jordan III when Tinker and co. went back to the drawing board for this one? And yet they ended up with a shoe every bit as timeless, refusing to rest on their laurels and make elephant print a recurring theme, slapping cement on there instead and breaking the mold once again. Not to mention the classic Buggin’ Out moment from Do the Right Thing.
While all of the OG colorways obviously have their spot in history the white pair pictured will always be my favorite, sporting the all important speckled sections that managed to do so much for a sneaker that was otherwise pretty plain in terms of color. Not my favorite Air Jordan of all time but definitely pretty high up there and definitely deserving of this spot.
9. Air Jordan III ‘White/Cement’
There aren’t too many white shoes that really do it for me, but how can you say no to this one? While they might not have as long a lifespan potential as some other Air Jordan III colorways thanks to that impeccably clean look I definitely think they look better right of out the box. When this colorway came back around last year I remember heading out to mall in the early morning to grab them and being impossibly tired but still unable to resist lacing them up immediately before heading back to bed, with the crispy white colorway being too much for me to put down.
It feels weird not to rank a sneaker that so perfectly embodies the word ‘fresh’ higher, but it’s that status that kind of holds them back for me at this point. I know that at the end of the day I probably wear these a lot less than some of the other sneakers on this list, which I suppose is sorta the gift and the curse of that brilliant white facade.
8. New Balance 1300 ‘Steel Blue’
OK so New Balance doesn’t have those eye popping Neon or Infrared shades splashed across its catalog of retro runners. What it does have those is the ‘Steel Blue’ New Balance 1300, a model that manages to convey that notion of an instantly recognizable colorway in a distinctly NB way. It just feels so in line with the smart and subdued lines of their big-N releases to have no doubt the most memorable of pairs not be hinged on some pastel 90s-nostalgia invoking(evoking?) shade, but on a grey a bit deeper than their usual silvery fare and some chilly blue sections to send them overboard.
Overall the New Balance 1300 manages to swerve around the typical retro runner look mentioned above and I don’t even really know how. Maybe its the straightforward platform on the bottom, no frills and not too chunky. Or maybe its those generous mesh sections that break up the lines of the sneaker. Whatever it is I love it, and the New Balance 1300 sporting this particular is hands down my favorite as far as the big-N pairs go, although not quite the top of the heap in general New Balance terms as you’ll see soon enough.
7. Air Max 95 ‘Neon’
I think one of the main reasons why I find this sneaker so awesome is the subtle approach as far as blocking in the OG greydient style colorways. That’s not to take anything away from Sergio Lozano’s killer human anatomy inspired design, but as you can see I’m a sucker for a grey sneaker and this has gotta be hands down one of the best. The way that neon tone is applied with such a level of restraint just makes the spots where it does appear jump out at you that much more. That awesome logo on the tongue. The tiny side Swoosh. The lacing system. And of course those chunky bubbles jumping out from the bottom bits of the sneaker.
The Air Max 95 ‘Neon’ is to me one of the best examples of Nike being able to whip up these palettes that have since become some timeless and iconic. And they did so with the namesake color not even being the most prevalent one on the sneaker. I feel like modern releases can sort of go overboard in that realm, with the whole ‘Volt’ thing or that distinct ‘South Beach’ style blue really being all up in the consumer’s face, whereas the Nike Air Max 95 sort of let it play the background and quietly become one of the most revered schemes of all time.
6. Nike Air Max 1 ‘Sport Red’
Another one of those must-include silos for me that has already been the subject of endless Tinker Hatfield centric lip service on this site and others. And after all these, years no matter how many times different folks both inside and outside of Nike do their best to build on that immediately head turning sport red colorway it still seems like it just can’t be done. The whole idea of the Nike Air Max 1 still seems crazy to this day, the notion of just totally exposing the guts with that all important window on the back end.
This shoe was actually born before me so I can’t sit here and pretend like I have OG’s upon OG’s tucked away, but I love it nonetheless for the footwear revolution that it precluded out in Beaverton, as marked by the air bag first bouncing off the track in slow-mo in the classic Weiden+Kennedy campaign of the same name. An amazing shoe from an amazing year for Nike that I’m pretty sure I’ll never tire of.
5. New Balance 993
The New Balance 993 is such an awesome sneaker to me because it’s one of those shoes that’s so pedestrian. You can see countless people in any given city’s streets rocking them, and they look awesome every time. It’s one of those pairs that you don’t have to have a cool guy t-shirt or a five panel cap to be in the know about, and better yet the majority of the people who are probably out their right now dragging through their daily routine with these on their feet couldn’t even tell which three digits are attached to the design.
That they manage to occupy that realm and remain relevant to the sort of folks previously slandered (you can even whip up a custom pair right now) really speaks a lot to their design to me. As far as particular colors I’ll take the silvery grey every time (no surprise there). The photo above was culled from the Sneakerpedia archives, mine haven’t been through quite so much. It doesn’t get much better than this for me as far as suede and mesh runners that can resonate with such a big number of folks and have such a huge presence amongst the public. Bonus points for the Made in USA status as always.
4. Air Max 90 ‘Infrared’
To me the Nike Air Max 90 ‘Infrared’ is sort of the ultimate ‘sneakerhead’ shoe if that makes any sense. It’s kind of the base unit of currency for folks who obsess over sports footwear, the one pair that comes back around every couple of years that, even if you don’t have a pair right now, you’ll probably be able to get your hands on them soon enough. And the next time, and the next time. It’s the ultimate sneaker to pull out when the spring rolls around. It’s one of those models that I can’t see myself passing on during any of the no-doubt infinite retro treatments ahead of us (not ashamed to say I’m optimistic about that VNTG pair either).
The Nike Air Max 90 as a silhouette has been done to death at this point. Countless collaborators have grabbed at the silo and created their own classics. Nike’s inline team of designers have been cooking up new versions ever since. But has anyone ever topped that initial pairing of the eye-popping Infrared along with the perfect placement of whites, blacks, and greys? In my opinion, no.
3. Nike SB Dunk Low ‘Eire’
One of the more embarrassing moments of my sneaker loving life. Around the time that these came out I wasn’t living in an area with access to any sort of Nike SB goodies, so I had no choice but to rely on outside channels, and with that the obvious ramped up prices, to get my hands on anything of that nature. So this sneaker shop had opened up in the closest big city and my friends and I had heard about it and decided to make the one hour drive out there one weekend to see what they had. The owner seemed like a nice enough dude, was super friendly, and kept telling us that if there was any sort of sneaker we were looking for he could probably get his hands on it one way or another. I walked out of there that day with a random pair of Air Force 1’s, but his little sales pitch sort of stuck with me. For a while I had wanted the Nike SB Dunk Low ‘Eire’ shown here, they weren’t super sought after or anything like that so I knew I wouldn’t be forking out too much and my father is from Ireland so just in general I thought it was a really cool release.
I ended up going back there a couple weeks later to try to see if the guy could get his hands on them for me. No problem. I handed over the cash and he said he would be in contact. Fast forward a couple of weeks and I had an email from him saying that the sneakers were in. I think that same weekend I drove up to the city but his shop was closed and I couldn’t get a hold of him. Eventually I had my mom stop by to pick them up at one point and I couldn’t wait to unbox them. They were fakes (go ahead and crucify me in the comments). I sat there in denial for a while checking and rechecking forum fake guidelines until I was pretty certain that I’d been had. Long story short I never heard from the guy again, his shop had closed up for whatever reason within that same year, and I left them in the box and chalked it up as an L. It took me a few years before I had the guts to suck it up and plunk the money down once again, essentially paying double the going rate for my pair, but when I finally did I was so stoked to finally have completed my quest.
2. Air Jordan III ‘Black/Cement’
Yes the token admission of the Black/Cement Air Jordan III. Even if you strip this sneaker of all the history surrounding it it would still be an awesome design. That little air bubble popping up towards the rear, the timeless elephant prints wrapping the edges of the sneaker, the debut of the Jumpman logo, that fat Nike Air hit on the back, the tumbled leather up top. Even though it’s not quite number one on my list I still think that it’s probably the best designed sneaker out of all of the ones here in terms of just nailing this sort of magical mixture that hasn’t lost a lick of steam since its debut.
Of course that’s just the sneaker without all the historical importance. It’s the one that made Michael stick around and see what else the Swoosh could do for him, the one that brought Tinker Hatfield into the Jumpman fold. Those two elements sort of solidify its status for me as a sneaker you just can’t ignore, it’s just too important in the grand scheme of things. I pulled a rare double up maneuver for the 2011 retro and am pretty excited about running that set into the ground until the next go round. Best colorway of the best Air Jordan to me, no question.
1. Nike SB Blazer – Midnight Navy/White
Just thought I would throw in a curve-ball after a list chock full of your stock responses in the Air Max and Air Jordan realm. In all seriousness, this sneaker has more sentimental value than any other pair in my collection and that’s why it’s sitting here at the top. They’ve also got more miles on them than any other pair that I own (note that the photo shown isn’t my personal pair), and as you’ve hopefully gleaned from the previous entries I tried to put a fair amount of emphasis on the sneakers I wear the most in terms of placing them amongst my all time favorites.
The Nike SB Blazer shown wasn’t a pair that I even bought. After high school I was traveling through Europe with four of my closest friends for about six months. The summer right before we left one of my friends from that group had picked these up, and ended up wearing them into the ground for the duration of our travels across the world. At the end of it all we were making our way back to America and he had sufficiently beat them up and sort of just offered them to me if I could stuff them into my backpack. It sounds kinda weird that a second hand pair of random SB Blazers could be at the top of my list but it has a lot to do with all that they’ve been through, and the fact that the pair is and forever will be linked to a weird time in my life that I can never really get back to. From that point on the sneakers were my go to beaters, and I stuck with them for several more years through college, putting in plenty more memories into the rapidly deteriorating shoes. Being from Oregon it was always important to have a pair of beaters because of the constant rain and this was always my pair for that, even though they eventually got to a point where the water would soak through to my socks if I tried to pull that off. They’ve more or less been retired at this point, tucked away in a closet on the opposite coast, but I’m pretty certain they’ll stay as the sneakers that drum up more memories than any other for me, and hence the pinnacle of my list.
