This season, Nike is celebrating the communities of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago and the people who work to push their cities forward. Using the silhouette of the Nike Air Force 1, community members will be celebrated by the sneaker that connects sport, music fashion, art, the street and city all at the same time.
The Chicago edition was inspired by a community barbershop, specifically No Cuts No Glory and its owner Drew Henderson. Elements of the city are identified through the lens of the barbershop community and Drew’s story and work is the inspiration of the AF-1 ALL FOR 1 – Chicago. The design brings the classic style of the Air Force 1 and bringing in the functional and style elements of Chicago.
“It means so much to me to be involved with the production of a shoe that represents some of the most important things in my life: Chicago, the barbershop and the community,” said Henderson. “I’ve had a passion for cutting hair my entire life and, while I never thought to myself I’d be able to inspire a shoe, it is an honor to shine a spotlight on the city, industry and community that made me who I am and motivate me every day. I share this with all of them.”
The new sneaker has:
HIGH QUALITY TUMBLED LEATHER: The shoe features tumbled leather with rolled edges, a premium execution that is also functional so that hair being cut can be easily removed and won’t get stuck in the seams.
WAX LACES AND BARBER-INSPIRED LACE TIPS: Wax laces ensure that that fallen hair will not get trapped. The aglet design represents the traditional barbershop pole, but the standard royal blue was replaced with light blue, a nod to the Chicago flag.
PONYHAIR HEEL TAB: A pony hair back tab was added as a premium fixture and represents the hair that barbers cut daily
TONGUE: The front tongue tag features a visual of the Nike swoosh and the Chicago skyline that transitions into the silhouette of a comb, alluding to the way in which the barbershop is at the “root” of the city. The top of the tongue includes a small white edge to represent the white tissue paper barbers use around customer’s necks. The inner-lining of the tongue is nylon red and white pinstripe, a nod to the classic barbershop cape used by Drew and many others.
DEUBRÉ: A metallic silver deubré was chosen to represent the razor blades used by barbers daily to clean up hair lines.
BOTTOM/OUTSOLE: The outsole is an iced rubber that provides extra grip on the shop floor. Through the outsole, there is a black and white diamond pattern that reflects classic barbershop flooring.
INSERT: The green insert was added as a symbol of Drew’s first barber chair when he first opened up his shop – an egg-white chair with green accents. Around the insert, Drew added words that represent the values most important to him, Chicago and the barbershop community. The insert graphic of two hands together represents Chicago unity. Functionally, it also provides extra cushioning to support barbershops and hair stylists that are on their feet for long periods of time.
You can cop them at Chicago retail locations and Nike.com on December 7, 2019.
