THE CROSS BREED - NIKE HYBRIDS

Not all of these hybrid models will strike the right power chord. Perhaps that is the whole point. Could it be that Nike has spent long enough listening to what kids supposedly want and decided to flip the coin on us all? In my view, that would be a massive boost to the longevity of this whole ‘sneaker thing’. As long as standards of materials and production are maintained, there really is no boundary for what is possible, and that is certainly true in an age where new manufacturing techniques and creative input from artists has taken the decoration of shoes to a new realm.

Whether that is a good thing or not is a subjective opinion which can only be answered on a case by case basis. Personally, I don’t need eight colours, five animal textures, fifteen shades of goretex and a partridge in a pear tree to float my boat. All I need is something NEW every now and then, that gets the blood pumping and causes the old brainbox to flutter. Indeed, it’s not my steez but one need only look at the elegant originality of Visvim to see how percolating a strong flavour can win friends (and imitators) and create something entirely new, at a time when plagiarism and identity theft is not only rampant, it damn near passes for creativity.

I rest my case.

COLIN WOOD

Thanks to Waz, Alozerock and Cool Modie for their help tracking down these vintage hybrids.