Sneakers have played a very important role in fashion over the last few of decades. Starting as athletic shoes primarily designed for training and playing sports, sneakers nowadays are much more than what they were conceived for, they are a fashion statement, a way of expressing yourself.
Many artists such as Kanye West or Travis Scott have had a key role in the sneaker culture, releasing their own shoes under the Adidas or Nike brand. Even luxury brands such as Off-White or Dior have collaborated with these companies, producing very limited pairs. These collaborations tend to be very popular, and given the low supply and high demand, these sneakers have a high resell value. However, exclusive and expensive doesn’t always mean great design.
A well-designed sneaker doesn’t have to necessarily cost a lot of money or be rare to find. As Burn Rubber’s creative director and footwear designer Rick Williams says, it’s all about telling a story with the shoe. It’s not just about the colourway, but all the little hints and tiny details that make it. In my opinion, a perfect example of this is the Nike Air Max 90 The Basement Glasgow.
The sneaker is part of a three-piece collaboration between Nike and UK streetwear community “The Basement”. Based on the classic Nike model, the Air Max 90, the collab uses the shoe to represent the cities of Glasgow, Manchester and London. It was released throughout October 2019, one pair releasing each week.
“The first BSMNT Air Max 90 takes creative cues from the city of Glasgow – paying tribute to the rebellious, joyous, forward-thinking community, continuously evolving and defying expectations.
This BSMNT Air Max 90 has a base of water resistant deep grey materials and heavyweight ripstop, utilised for durability. The plush leather safety orange tongue and retroreflective Swoosh & heel tab are inspired by the iconic traffic cone placed upon the head of The Duke of Wellington statue in the city centre.”
Living in Glasgow for so many years, the city has become like a second home to me. When I heard about the collaboration, I knew I had to own a pair. This is one of my favourite sneakers, and even has sentimental value for me, and for the Glasgow sneaker community.
Thanks to a Facebook sneakers group, I managed to get in touch with Adam Bartlett, designer at The Basement. Talking to him was a great opportunity which allowed me to learn more about the collaboration he had been involved in, gaining a better understanding of the shoe’s design process.
You said you work in “The Basement”. Could you tell me about this community and what your job consists of?
The Basement is an inclusive community. It’s made of people from all walks of life with an array of backgrounds, struggles, dreams, jobs and talents. What started as a small group focused on the discussion around streetwear trends has evolved into a multichannel youth movement. The Basement is now a platform engaging and empowering young people across a broad range of topics, from fashion and music through to art, politics, travel and more.
My job role is “Graphic Designer” for The Basement, working across projects within the aforementioned categories, and general care of the creative output.
This is The Basement’s second collaboration with Nike. How did this idea begin? Why were London, Manchester and Glasgow chosen as inspiration for the shoes? Any particular reason for having the Air Max 90s as the shoe for this collab?
The project started over two years prior to the release. London, Manchester and Glasgow were “selected” more as hubs, rather than specific cities, covering Scotland (The North), Manchester (The “Midlands”) and London (The South). The Basement has had a presence in all three of those cities which helped, (hosting events and pop-ups in the past), and a strong family base already. The Air Max 90 has been a favourite of the internal Basement team for many, many years, so when combined with Nike’s 30th anniversary plans, it made perfect sense.
Out of the three pairs, the Glasgow one is my favourite without a doubt. The contrast between the orange tongue and the grey upper, the retroreflective swoosh and heel tab give the shoe a unique character. What inspired this design and how was the design process, from initial concept to final product? What was your role in the development?
The design process of each shoe was extremely fun. We spoke with creatives and community members from each of the three key cities, to gain insight on what their city meant to them. Whether that was colours, materials, textures, or an energy, spirit or heritage, we took inspiration the responses, trying to give these people a shoe that reflected them and their city. This was obviously a tricky task, but one I feel we replied to with high respect. My role in this development was Lead Designer, working with our team to visually represent each city.
How were the materials used for the shoe decided?
Let me just state that you don’t need to be a shoe designer to design a good shoe. The sneaker culture is one of great heritage, with countless great collaborations and products having already released, and no doubt even more to come. As a whole team, we all have a great love and strong knowledge for all things Sneakers. It’s helps that I, as a graphic designer, can quickly visually create mock-ups of colourways, sketches and plans for new materials, shapes, and features, as well as a strong knowledge of material-use. In answer to your question, the responses from the people in each city gave us a strong lead on materials to use. Mancunians commented on the poor weather and urban conditions, so we knew we needed hard-wearing, tough materials, so we used Cordura. Glasgow had very similar responses, but with more a fun, outgoing stance on their city. The Glasgow AM90 features hard-wearing ripstop, water-resistant suede, tough leather and woven canvas. As you know, the inspiration behind the swoosh and accents came from The Duke of Wellington, and the story behind the cone on its head. It was mentioned numerous times in the responses, and after research from the team, we thought it was the perfect representation of the city and the nature of its people.
How many quantities of each model were produced?
Cannot divulge said information, sorry.
Have you got any information on the manufacturing process? Was it the same as for other Nike sneakers or was it different as it was a limited edition?
Again, can’t divulge on the timeline, but as you can imagine, we had many meetings with the Nike teams in London and Portland. I don’t really know the process on “other Nike sneakers” to comment, but we had a usual sampling process, with changes along the way.
Have you ever been involved in a project like this before? What has been the best part of this process?
I haven’t really. I was involved with The Basement’s first collaboration with Nike, on the Dunk, but not to this extent. I loved every minute of it if I’m honest - it’s every “sneakerheads” dream to design their own shoe. I hope it’s not my last project like this, but we shall have to see what the future has in store. You’ve also got to remember, this project wasn’t simply the design of a sneaker, but what it actually represented, and created for itself. The “Real People” campaign was one not seen before, and I doubt ever will again, especially to the scale and quality we achieved.
