In the end, all that matters is if the shoe looks good on your feet. If it doesn’t, chances are it won’t be a popular item, even if the shoe promises to make you jump twice as high or perform some other physical feat that was at once unattainable. Over the last few decades, footwear designers have successfully welded design and function into some of the greatest sneakers of all-time, starting with the debut of Air Max technology in 1987 to the six-combo interchangeable cushioning presented by the Air Jordan 2012. Sprinkled in-between this chronological list is some of technologies that you might’ve forgotten, like Reebok’s DMX or Nike’s Helium, so check out some of what made Complex’s list below and head to Complex for the full twenty-five.
Nike is no stranger to premium materials, cranking things up quite a bit in that respect with their ongoing Missoni collaboration. Turns Nike Free Run 4.0 V3 out they can ride that wave pretty well on their own, putting out this Nike Chuck Taylor with a nice linen finish on top. The nearly brandless construction goes quite a ways in solidifying the clean look of the lowtop sneaker, which is helped as well by the cream outsole and hits of leather piping. Check out these premium textile-treated Chucks after the jump and if you like what you see then hit up Nike now to get a pair.
The Nike Pro Leather hightop is sufficiently well aged that Michael Jordan was wearing them when he hit the 1982 NCAA Championship-winning jumper, but it’s taken top-notch collaborations and premium releases from the First String Nike Free Run Sale collection to get these back into the public eye. The latest pair comes to us courtesy of Aloha Rag‘s new private label series A.R. SRPLS, whose gold Nike Air Max Mens stars on white leather has these looking like they’d be associated with ‘SPRM’ if any de-vowel’d ‘s’-word. But these manage to look considerably older than the vaunted Supreme Dunk High SBs thanks to the interplay of off-white accents and a yellow-leaning gum sole, the latest in a long line of examples proving the merit of vintage colorups on these old school silhouettes. Take a gander after the jump and look for these at select retailers in September. via HS