Nike Air Force 1 '07 Next Nature White &Amp; Team Crimson

Two setups. Sport adjacent: grey sweatpants or track pants with a white tee and a crimson accent somewhere above the waist so the colour repeats. Everyday: mid or dark denim with a clean break, a navy or grey knit, the white shoe brightening the base of the outfit and the crimson doing one small job. White Air Force 1s belong to dry weather and hard floors, not to monsoon streets. They run slightly large, so consider half a size down. Clean marks the same day, wash laces separately when they yellow, and store out of direct sunlight, since sun yellows white materials faster than wearing them ever will.

Nike's reach into music has been productive and occasionally litigious. In 1987 the company used the Beatles' Revolution in an advertisement after paying Capitol Records 250,000 dollars without Apple Records' approval, Apple Records sued for 15 million dollars, and the ads were discontinued in March 1988. That episode is a useful reminder of how hard Nike pushed to be part of the culture rather than a sponsor of it. The push worked: from the 1980s onward the brand became a status symbol in urban and hip hop fashion, with Air Force 1s among the models that turned into everyday uniform. This shoe carries that weight in its plainest and most affordable form.

The Air Force 1 has an unusually substantial build for a low top: a thick panelled upper, a padded collar, perforations across the toe box and a chunky cup sole with the pivot circle underneath. Next Nature means recycled input worked into that build rather than a redesign, which is the right way round, since the shoe's appeal is that it never changes. White across the upper with Team Crimson on the Swoosh and trim gives the panels definition and makes the perforation pattern legible. Nike Air, the pressurised gas unit sealed into the midsole, sits hidden inside. Protect white uppers before the first wear, use foam and a soft brush, an eraser on the midsole, and never a washing machine.