Written by John Gotty
Travis Scott is one of footwear’s current kingmakers. Alongside the likes of Virgil Abloh and Kanye West, Scott holds enough sway to take a shoe from obscurity to most talked about simply by wearing it. We’ve seen paparazzi pics and leaks for four potential Air Trainer 1 colorways linked to La Flame in recent weeks. So could Scott’s co-sign breathe life into this effectively obsolete and oft-overlooked category?
Travis Scott in the rumored Travis Scott x Nike Air Trainer 1 (Image via @ovrnundr.io/Instagram)
Anyone who follows kicks knows the routine where the Swoosh taps a hot celeb endorser to lace up a silhouette the company intends to go all-in on. Therefore, it makes sense to believe the Air Trainer 1 will see the spotlight soon, considering we’ve seen leaks of Travis’ potential pairs, and 2022 marks the model’s 35th anniversary.
At this point, buyers want a different option besides Dunks and Air Jordan 1s. They’re both overdone, oversaturated, and often hard to get. Maybe that’s part of the reason why a brand like New Balance is seeing a surge of interest in its running shoes, and even its 550 basketball model has gained momentum. The same can be said for the resurgence of other old models like Reebok’s Club C, Puma’s push behind Suedes, etc. We’re in a space where late ‘80s/early ‘90s looks and trends found new interests from younger generations looking to dress like their parents, and parents revisiting parts of their youth.
Now’s the perfect time for AT1s to reemerge.
Original Nike Air Trainer 1 Chlorophyll (Image via Nike)
Originally released in 1987, the Trainer 1 personifies what innovation meant for Nike once upon a time. Genius designer Tinker Hatfield noticed a problem and sought a solution. Instead of lugging multiple shoes on his daily gym visits, Hatfield happened upon the idea of creating one shoe that could meet all of his needs adequately. And thus, the Air Trainer 1 and the concept of cross-training were born. Hatfield birthed a shoe suitable for the gym, any court, and beyond. The model’s look – its higher cut, the forefoot strap, pronounced outrigger, and signature Chlorophyll green accent colors – separated it from anything else on the market.
Original Nike Air Trainer 1 sketch (Image via Nike)
The Trainer category thrived with premiere athletes like Bo Jackson, John McEnroe, and Andre Agassi strapping on pairs during its heyday. Early marketing efforts turned already phenomenal athletes into mythical stars. Those legacies still exist, but Nike’s not looking to former greats as possible ways to drive attention to old cross-training models. As they shouldn’t since the average twenty-something is clueless about those athletes. The youth look to pop culture icons more than athletes for style cues. Currently, few of those icons can match Travis’ knack for driving hype and sales.
Andre Agassi wearing the Nike Air Trainer 1 in 1988 (Image via Getty)
Most would assume an old fogey like myself would be rankled by the idea of the “goosebumps” rapper touching my beloved Trainers, but it’s quite the opposite. Nike barely puts out any Trainer 1s. The last big push we saw for the Trainer 1 was a collaboration with Hiroshi Fujiwara’s fragment design loosely themed around tennis’ Grand Slam for Nike Court in 2015. Released in a smattering of colors and with pretty good materials, those pairs didn’t move the needle and eventually landed in outlets en masse.
We received two iterations from Nike SB releases in the years since — the Polar Skate Co. collab, and a modified version of the OG Chlorophyll. Other than that, we’re starved for the attention shown to a model that should be more revered considering its place in the brand’s history. I’m all for getting more colorways, which is possible since the Oregon-based brand wouldn’t spend the money on production only to give us a few Cactus Jack specials sporting his usual earth tones motif and signature reverse Swoosh.
If we’re lucky, Nike follows those pairs with forgotten gems from the early aughts. The brand should tap the archives to reboot a few original colorways like the Chlorophylls, which we’ve seen countless times but are always welcome by diehards and casual fans alike, and the varsity red colorway last seen in 2000. If the sneaker gods in Beaverton should read this, please know the 2001 Safari, a CO.JP release at the time, would be welcomed since it would fill a gaping hole in my collection.
2000 Varsity Red and the First Take (via @sneakerpreservationsociety/Instagram)
They could dive deep to deliver the First Take AT1, the prototype model based on Tinker Hatfield’s early sketches that weren’t possible to manufacture in the ‘80s. Those unicorns would speak to obsessives and archivist types. There’s a 2000 “Raiders” pair that I experienced a very public crumbling experience with and would like a chance to own again. Nike SB could even get in on the action to bring back the beloved “Paul Brown” and “Bamboo” joints. Or, how about the “Twisted Prep” pack from 2003? Clark Kent’s magnificent “112” colorway with neon yellow, reflective 3M, and elephant print deserves revisiting. The list goes on and on.
Not every shoe bearing Scott’s signature suddenly morphs into the “it” shoe of the moment. No one ever mentions wanting GR colorways of Air Max 270 React or rushing to the store for the Air Jordan 33, even though both received tastefully done Travis editions, which still sell well on the resell market. The man can breathe life into shoes, but he can’t resuscitate models that are dead on arrival.
Thankfully, the Air Trainer 1 carries its own cultural cache. La Flame only needs to bring a little energy to kickstart the movement.
