I was having a pretty lengthy discussion in the DMs with someone about Nike By You the other day and I came to some interesting realizations…    Other than the fact that democratizing the silhouette

I was having a pretty lengthy discussion in the DMs with someone about Nike By You the other day and I came to some interesting realizations… 
 
Other than the fact that democratizing the silhouette gives it a new life, I had my moment with Nike ID but it never really took hold with me. To this day, I really don’t have all that much interest in Nike IDs.  
 
Back when Nike ID first started...I ordered a few pairs. I remember I had a pair of Zoom FC SBs with my #NT name on the back...and then once the Air Maxes dropped on ID I went ham. Pretty sure I made about 10-12 pairs. I made a pair of 97’s that looked like Black/Atlantic Penny II’s, and they were so dope but the materials were crap and the paint started cracking kind of early on so I returned them. I made a pair of 90’s that was brown and black and white, and I remember this dude who didn’t speak any English came up to me at the subway station, gestured with his camera at my feet (asking me if he could take a pic) and I cheerfully obliged. I gave that pair to my cousin. I designed 3-4 pairs of Air Maxes at the 255 Elizabeth Studio in New York...which was a cool experience in itself. But I just never really found myself wearing my IDs more than once or twice.  
 
Why?  
 
It sounds kind of strange, but I feel like the story behind the shoe is more important to me than the shoe itself. Most shoes that I own don’t have any kind of *published* Nike story behind them...just another colorway of a popular silhouette. But I still remember where I was or what I was doing when I found what I ultimately purchased. I made some IDs with stories in mind, and I told myself why I did them, but...still...nothing beat finding a dope pair on shelves that I didn’t even know existed. Hitting shop after shop in Manhattan and Brooklyn and Queens (and even Staten Island) and Philadelphia, nothing was better than the feeling of just spotting something dope and copping it on the spot.  
 
Which is kind of weird. Like...I’m more attached to the act of being a consumer than I am telling MY story through my own shoes. I guess that really what makes me a full blooded American 
 
Anyway...#dunkydunks are almost here!