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NIKEID – NIKE AIR MAX 90 PREMIUM ID
Next up in our run of NIKEiD features is a rather tasty (and different) option: the NIKE AIR MAX 90 PREMIUM iD, featuring a number of reptilian leather options and some nice offerings for the sole unit as well. Ever since snakeskin showed up on certain Nike models in the ’80s (the recently-retroed Air Python from ’87 immediately springs to mind), it’s been considered a luxurious addition to sneaker uppers.
To begin with, we started with the new snakeskin palette – and added the Natural Motion midsole for that ‘toothy’ look to the base of the shoe. Looks aside, it’s a supremely comfortable choice for underfoot: flexible, lightweight and durable. Taking our attention back to the uppers, there’s a slightly autumnal appearance, with lots of sail and black being used extensively. A solid starter for 10.
Purple is a colour for the brave (and Lakers fans, if you prefer that analogy instead), but there was no way we were going to get creative on the 90 without testing out all the options. And we’re glad we did, because this concoction is killin’ it! Purple snakeskin? Hell to the yes! Keeping it classic with the midsole choice but adding a few purple speckles keeps it spicy. With all the dark hues, these aren’t going to look battered in ten minutes, so they might be a useful shoe for the darker days ahead. Purple and black never looks wack!
Next up, something a with a bit more of a ZING! to it… Navy blue leather croc on the mudguard, navy snakeskin elsewhere – and then some mint on the accent points. A black Natural Motion midsole is peppered with a white speckle and navy blue sole just to try something a bit different. It’s clean but unusual – and might be just the footwear kaleidoscope you’re looking for.
Back to the brown end of the spectrum again, and this time we’ve dug deep into the cold-blooded department: there’s all kinds of good stuff going on here. Black snake leather on the base and quarter sections and some black crocodile on the mudguard. Sand Dune was the perfect finishing colour for the swoosh.
There’s an unwritten subconscious formula that sets off a warning sign when you make an odd combination on the iD platform. But sometimes you just have to ignore it and persevere. This Frankenshoe is the perfect example of when things go wrong, they sometimes go right. We can’t put out finger on what it is exactly, but the combination of white leather, black suede, sail snakeskin and the gum sole on these bad boys makes a subdued colour palette look pretty damn good.
It seems impossible to put an iD feature together without at least looking at the red options. Red has been a big player in the colours over the past two years and with good reason – it’s a confident way to shout ‘Hey! Check these out!’ without actually saying anything. We might be reaching the end of summer, but ‘berries and cream still works for us as a combination, so we’ve gone for all-over crocodile leather in red, contrasting with white on the details and Lunarlon midsole. It’s nothing groundbreaking – but it works perfectly and there’s a reason why people have ’embraced the red mist’ in 2014.
We think the NIKE AIR MAX 90 PREMIUM iD works well with these new textile options: reptile-themed leather isn’t something that has been used that much on the iD platform, so we were keen to spend a day trying it out properly. We’re hoping to see even more fabrics reach the Air Max 90, as it’s one of our favourites. Click the banner below and head over to NIKE iD right now to have a session with the beasties!
