Patrick Johnson 
Bruce Kilgore’s iconic basketball creation, the Nike Air Force 1, had quite the year throughout 2016. Not only did we get fresh lifestyle revamps in Flyknit and the militarized style of the Nike SF-AF1, but Nike also pushed the Nike Air Force 1 Bespoke at their freshly minted Bespoke iD Studio at NikeLab 21 Mercer. Trapsoul singer, rapper, and songwriter extraordinaire Bryson Tiller got a chance to custom build his very own Nike Air Force 1 at the location and was wowed by the intricacies that went into building a pair inspired by his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky and the city’s rich boxing history.
Tiller’s connection to the Air Force 1 dates all the way back to his elementary school years, when it was one of the few ways to stand out despite having to follow strict uniform guidelines.
“I wore a uniform to school, so the white-on-white or black-on-black Air Force 1 Low was the simple sneaker to wear, but it was the standard. You were cool if you had on a pair of Air Force 1s,” Bryson Tiller said. “It’s still a staple for me while on tour.”
Nike Air Force 1 Low Bespoke features a University Red full-grain leather upper inteded to look and feel like a pair of boxing gloves while a Tour Yellow eyestay and custom tongue branding referenced the vintage branding on old boxing gloves as well. “Whenever you fly into Louisville, you see a sign that says, ‘It’s Possible Here.’ I remember my first time seeing it – I think I was coming home from the studio in LA – I was working on my debut album, and I just thought, ‘Wow, it is possible here.’ Everybody always thinks you have to move out of the city and go where the music industry is, but it’s possible in Louisville, and it’s possible anywhere. You just have to believe. So, I put ‘POSSIBLE’ on them as well.”
Check out a full rundown of the latest Nike SNKRS story below and read the full story here.
Source: Nike SNKRS
