Nike has tried many mash-ups of its classic sneakers in the past that just left people confused as to why Nike would come out with a product that no one was asking for. From the any of the fusion Jordans to taking the Air Max 95 and combining it with the Roger Federer Air Zoom Vapor, many of these mashups simply just leave sneaker-heads saying why Nike? This time around Nike is unveiling a new colorway of the loved and hated Nike mash up the Forceposite. This mashup of the classic Air Force One and Penny Hardaway’s Foamposite is coming out in a colorway that might change the way people look at the Forceposite. By taking one of the classic Foamposite colorways, ‘Metallic Red’ this Nike is reaching out to the true Foamposite heads and giving them something to move into a different silhouette. Nike has dropped multiple Forceposites in the past and many of the colorways and silhouettes have flopped, but these might be the Forceposite that gives the mash-up sneaker a better reputation and separates itself from the pack.
The Nike Air Force One is in the middle of a little bit of a resurgence for Nike at the moment. Over about the last year, you can see Nike Air Force Ones on the feet of celebrities and influencers all over the world for a few reasons. After rolling out 3 different iterations of the shoe with Virgil Abloh’s Off-White Nike came through and gave the people what they wanted with more Air Force One collaborations. From a collaboration paying homage to a very sought after Roc-A-Fella records, a collab with Just Don’s very creator and head designer Don C, and lastly probably the most hyped of all the full canvas upper Air Force One that featured detachable swooshes and lace covers that they worked with rapper Travis Scott on. Nike and its signature Air Force One was approaching the pinnacle of what made the sneaker so popular in the first place. The Air Force One is so great for its simplicity, its classic silhouette that can go with anything, and that it appeals to so many different lifestyles and cultures.
Nike’s Foamposite, unlike the Air Force One, is in somewhat of a downward spiral at the moment. Although the shoe will always be a cult classic Nike model and it has developed a following of its own, the masses aren’t asking for the heavy, clunky Penny Hardaway model these days. After a resurgence in 2012 due to the highly anticipated release of the Nike Foamposite Galaxy that had people not only paying prices in the thousands for the shoe but people even trading their cars for the shoe. Nike was riding high with the Foamposite at that time dropping a plethora of colorways from some of the originals like the metallic reds, pine greens, and the royals to new really out there colorways like the weatherman and the thermals. One problem Nike was over saturating the market with Foamposites and they began to sit on shelves in sneaker stores all over the country and eventually find their way to the Nike outlets going for way below retail.
Nike is hoping with this most recent mash-up of two of its classic models to be able to pull in the fanatics in each crowd. Mashing up the Air Force One and Foamposite in a colorway that will actually be able to demand attention from sneaker aficionados might actually make this shoe a sleeper of the summer and at a retail price of 180 dollars, it meets right in the middle of the price of two of Nike’s most popular models.
