WHEN NIKE HONCHO Phil Knight orders his swoosh-striped Rushmore Mountain somewhere Nike Air Max 95 Damen in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest, the Air Max 95 will be one of the shoes that will be carved into the Nike Air Max 270 Womens outcrop of Precambrian granite. The Air Max 95 is not the best Nike shoe ever made, it is without doubt (sorry Air Jordan junkies) the best Nike shoe ever made, an object deeply buried in popular culture. Collectors flocked to it, kicking off what would become a $ 75 billion global industry fueled by hype beasts, sneakerheads, and enough ambitious consumers to fill the Mariana pit multiple times. Since its debut in 1995, the Air Max 95 has remained an eternal best seller. Nike produces several new versions each year. The number of colors is staggering: over 150 and counting. Such ubiquity did nothing to reduce the cachet of the shoe. It continues to be worn by artists, actors, pop stars, criminals and, yes, even real Nike Internationalist Womens athletes.

Nagomo Oji knew he was making history when he laced up a pair of Air Max 95 last month in Saitama City, Nike Air Force 1 Dame Japan, a suburban sprawl 10 miles north of central Tokyo. What made Oji's shoes so special was their pedigree. Anyone can enter Foot Locker and buy a pair of Air Maxes for $ 160. Oji's shoes were something entirely different. To use the vernacular sneakerhead, it was "DS" (dead stock), an abandoned model which is new, unworn and unwrapped. Even better, they were "OG. Not" an original gangster, "just" original. "In other words, these vintage kicks were very collectable, a blank example of the very first Air Maxes that were dropped two decades ago.

But something insidious has happened to these shoes, and to all other pairs like them, over the years. They have collapsed for nothing while they are sitting in boxes or Nike Air Presto Femme hiding in closets. The materials used to make them degrade over time, causing the shoes to disintegrate, rendering them Nike Air Max 95 Damen worthless.

Intact specimens like that of Oji are as rare as Siamese hermaphrodites and can cost more than $ 2,000. But Oji had no interest in selling his Air Max 95s. For him, the shoebox was a time capsule that evoked fugitive images of lost youth and evoked a forgotten period when collecting kicks was a hobby , not an investment.

A lot has happened since Oji bought these Nike runners. He was no longer defined by the shoes he wore. Vanity had been undermined by adulthood and its responsibilities. He was now an adult father of 2-year-old twins. As he assessed his newly fitted feet, a smile narrowed Nike Air Max 2017 Femme his lips. It might not be possible to relive the past, he thought. But it was the closest thing to her.

As soon Adidas Ultra Boost Dames as he planted his feet, Oji felt that something was really wrong. The midsoles flattened and his feet became strangely unstable. He didn't realize it at the time, but polyurethane (PU), this viscous and shock-absorbing material sandwiched between the upper and the outsole, exceeded its expected life by more than ten years.

After just one step, the hardened PU foam fractured and collapsed, like an arid ground collapsing under the boots of an Okie Dust Bowl. Oji looked down in disbelief. With the insoles completely detached from the upper, his feet touched the ground. His beloved Air Maxes had just turned into Fred Flintstone shoes.