A drop of water falling into a pond and a Japanese bullet train are often cited as the inspirations behind Christian Tresser’s design of the Nike Air Max 97. While only the former is accurate, the image of a speeding train perfectly captures how quickly the Silver Bullet colorway spread across Italy following its debut.
Thirty years later, we partnered up with Nike just like we did on other occasions through the years: think of the Blazer, the Total 90 and the Goadomes. Each project began with a style we anticipated would resonate culturally at the time of its release. This time, however, we're also returning to a silhouette whose history has long been intertwined with our own.
Saying so today feels unreal, but you couldn’t exactly go to a club with sneakers on in the late ‘90s. Le Silver marked the first exception: an instant object of desire, a token granting access to the exciting nightlife across the whole nation. While the original Silver Bullet was defined by its polished, metallic finish, our 2027 version looks at silver before refinement, drawing inspiration from the textures and irregularities of the material in its raw state. We call it The Truest Form. We wanted the rough version, the purest expression of a precious material before it gets polished. The colorway is Black Iron Grey.
That’s why we’ve arranged its release party during C2C in Turin, at Notorius. Tucked away upstairs in the same building as Carlo Mollino’s iconic Le Roi, the club feels like its darker alter ego: an obscure, underground counterpart. For the lineup, we turned to Turin-based collective Gang of Ducks to bring together raw talent for the night: Elena Colombi b2b Selezione Naturale (DJ set), Tolouse Low Trax (live), Caterina Gobbi (live) and XIII (DJ set).
A dedicated fanzine will be making its way around the festival too. We teamed up with Crack Magazine to write about the Nike Air Max 97 and Turin’s nightlife, from the ‘90s to today. The Slam Jam Nike Air Max 97 will be available from October 31 at all Slam Jam doors.
