These OG Eggplant colorway is actually one of my very favorite AM90s. I prefer these to the more famous OG colorways like the Laser Blue or the Infrared.
I love the Volt too and it is also one of the 5 OG colorways.
IMHO, the AM90 and the AM1 are the two most versatile shoes ever invented. I prefer the 90 now as I get old and my feet need a bit of cushion in the midsole , but I used to prefer the Air Max 1. I think the best 5 Nike silhouettes are:
1 AM90
2 AM1
3 Blazer Low
4 Jordan 1 Low (I know most people hate the low but I love the Low)
5 Air Force 1 Low(hate the white or the black ones though)
I think most of low top sneakers are underrated. That said if I were taller than I am now , I may prefer the Jordan 4 or the Jordan 1 High. But my current height of 5'10 or so(I think I am a bit taller than 5'10), I think the low top sneakers are better.
I think the high's are for over 6 or taller people.
Is Nike really invincible? (UPDATED)
I think Nike’s main issue now is that they are a too USA market focused company and on a certain generation of Americans , they seem to be really careless about European and Asian markets( at least Asian and European men’s ).
Many of their great shoes are available only for women in Asia and Europe.
And many of their great colorways are only for ladies in Asia(I do not know why but they do not sell us the complete black and the gray white Air Max 1 for men here).
Maybe they think they are invincible or unchallenged complete dominant player in sneaker , but in reality Adidas is doing better in many international markets like Western Europe, China and Australia now.
Most of Nike’s super popular shoes are either real old 90’s or 80’s silhouettes or basket ball related retros. They are too retro dependent , inventing no interesting new silhouettes at all for many years.
If you take away the hype, NB >Adidas > Nike. In quality of products, pricing, and dope-ness of design (except when it comes to retros). If nike didn't lean so hard on retros, all they would have is performance basketball and running shoes that nobody uses as steetwear or fashion wear, some dope but incredibly overpriced stuff (ISPA, zoom stack type, adapt lacing, etc), and a bunch of newer stuff with react that people will grab one or two pairs of but otherwise do not care that much about. On the other hand, if Adidas didn't have Yeezy, I would still be incredibly impressed by how cool their new design coming out is, and the quality to price ratio is unmatched. It's crazy how cheaply you can get something from Adidas or New Balance and how it'll still blow Nike out of the water in materials, construction, QC, and durability.
Not to mention that Nike still uses slave labor whereas Adidas hasn't for years if not decades. In fact Adidas has the highest labor practice score of any major global apparel retailer, and Nike and NB somewhere in the middle of the pack (where middle of the pack equals exploitation and slavery). Adidas isn't perfect, but they're leagues ahead of Nike, still way behind NB , though especially in the material quality.
The made in USA NB shoes are simply head and shoulders above everything else.
Don't get me wrong, even without hype stuff like retros, Nike still has some really cool stuff. My favorite non-hype pair of sneakers I own right now is the Nike x Undefeated AF1 military green, so I'm not anti-Nike. But if you spend as much time as I do browsing all major sneaker companies catalogs and buying as much shit as I do from all the major sneaker companies, it becomes clear that in aggregate Adidas is better than Nike in almost every way...and NB beats all the rest hands down these days, except the hype game.
All what Nike’s got now are retros.
Almost all their most popular silhouettes are
all from the late or mid 80’s or from the 90’s , which I call boomers grail.
Their most popular silhouette is maybe either the Jordan 1 Hi or the Dunk low, both are from 1985.
Another super popular silhouette the Air Max 1 is also from the mid 80’s. 1987?
AF1 is from 1982.
Air Max 90(or Air Max 3) , 95 , 97 and 96 are from
the mid 90’s.
So none of their most popular shoes are relatively new but super old boomer generation or X’s shoes.
Those of us grew up in these silhouettes love them because we are emotionally attached to these iconic 80’s or 90’s shoes , but the younger generations like the Zers do not care about them at all.
So the younger people tend to prefer Adidas or NB shoes now , it’s obvious if you take a bit of time to research Reddit subs like street style.
I mean I am a Yeezy hater , but still have to admit they are at least comfy and brand new silhouettes(and very original).
And these are extremely popular among young Europeans and Asians who do not care much about the old dated basketball type of silhouettes(such as AJ1 and AF1).
Adidas also has Ultraboost and nMD , and these are very practical shoes for students who have to be active and work quick on everything. Maybe that's why many of our students love them.
NB has the P 550 , which is right now the coolest silhouette at Reddit and YouTube. ALD 550's are really really popular right now.
They also have 327, 237, 2002r and xc72, all of these seem to be very successful new silhouettes.
Historically NB has always been one of the most popular fashion brands in East Asia (in Japan and in Korea), but now it is even super popular in Northern Europe and USA. Sure it was always big in Boston or NYC area , but never so popular in west coast US or in Europe, but now the brand is rapidly growing even in the Western US and Europe.
So I think Nike is not invincible as it was , though I have admit I myself and my generation millennials actually prefer Nike retros over Adidas yeezy.
And I think our generation is the driving force of the world economy now , so as long as we are still fine , keep buying many pairs of Nikes and New Balances , Nike and New Balance will always trounce over Adidas , but Adidas has a huge influencer Kanye West and I think we should never underestimate him and his influencing power over the young generations in the western world and even in East Asia.
I have many students who buy or prefer Adidas just because of Kanye and his works at Adidas.
Even once dead American brands like Gap and Tommy Hilfiger are becoming super popular again here because of Kanye effects!
Nike may be doomed as they have lost Kanye in their team ? They may become weaker over time as most of their loyalists like the Z’s and the millenniums stop buying their retros on the next two decades or so.
Between real bad QC and not controlling bots they have lost tons of customers. Now that places are cracking down on bots and people are leaving shoe botting, Nike will see they won't have much left compared to years back. Many people have already left them for Adidas or NB. And sadly enough the quality of replica shoes is better than the real Nike shoes and a lot cheaper.
I had to return about 26 pairs of Nike shoes this year, I think I returned zero NB shoes in this year, I returned 2 pairs of Puma shoes , 3 pairs of Adidas, so by far the worst QC brand in sneaker is now Nike.
It is sad but the reality is their material quality on Dunks , Jordans and Air Maxes is much worse than the material quality of the Adidas Forum 84 or Continental 80, or ZX8000.
Nike really needs to improve the material quality on the Jordans, Dunks and AM's.
So I think now NB and Adidas are safer.
Update: I now decided to avoid most Adidas, I just dislike the three stripes I think the stripes make most of their shoes and clothes especially pants super ugly or hard to pull off with other brand stuffs.
Also I really hate the fact most sports kids like highschool basketball boys or soccer baseball boys here wear Adidas track suits like their must-have uniforms, it is super annoying.
Here Nike apparels are not popular, and Under Armour is even less popular , so I normally wear Under Armour rain jackets or windbreakers now , I do not like any one around me wearing the same type of clothes or shoes as I have on me.
So no more Adidas for me, at least no Superstar, no Stan Smith, no three stripe track pants or soccer pants..........no NMD, no Yeezy shit(these are super ugly anyway).
I will try to avoid these three stripe clown shoes and Nike Dunks and Jordan 1 Hi.
I never understand the hyperbeast mentality of wanna copy each other's style and just chase the hype.
