![]() The air max 97 sneaker comes in a vintage look across a variety of classic black colour ways. Even now - where the sneaker world represents an ever-increasing sea of experimental creations -the Silver Bullet is synonymous with progressiveness, a testimony to its cutting-edge technology, striking visual codes and everlasting cultural relevance.Stand out and make a statement with the Nike Air Max 97. Now, 25 years after its initial debut, the Air Max 97 Silver Bullet continues to be a cultural phenomenon, representing two-and-a-half decades spent sat at the cutting-edge. Acid house, jungle, drum and bass, hardcore - all of these were centred around non-conformity, something which few shoes epitomised better than the Silver Bullet. Likewise with rave music throughout the UK, the other-worldly aesthetic of the Silver Bullet reflected the genres sweeping throughout the underground. Grime had already fully adopted Air Max as its own - the 95 was a staple amongst MCs and enthusiasts by this point - so the 97 was quickly subsumed, like the ubiquitous, metallic shapeshifter it was. In the UK, meanwhile, the Silver Bullet continued a similar path, representing an affinity with a wide array of subcultures. As the Silver Bullet approached its 20th anniversary, it only seemed fitting that the sneaker was reworked with an Italian exclusive, which saw the country’s flag worked into its tongue and heel tabs. ![]() What this story shows is the rise through the Italian underground to mainstream notoriety, one where the Silver Bullet went from being a favourite amongst ravers and DJs to appearing on Italian runways and the feet of celebrities. The Milanese love for Silver Bullets was so strong, in fact, that it led to a book being published in 2017 by KALEIDOSCOPE, “Le Silver: An Italian Oral History of the Nike Air Max 97”, which delves into the cultural phenomenon the sneaker represents. So strong was the love for the Silver Bullet that it was even given its own nickname, “Le Silver”: an affectionate moniker that spread far and wide throughout Milan, bubbling over from the underground into the wider fashion sphere. In Milan, the Silver Bullet found its spiritual home, swiftly becoming adopted by a variety of individuals, from club goers to graffiti writers, in a pervasive, malleable way. Unsurprisingly, when the Silver Bullet arrived in 1997, it sent shockwaves across the globe the fact it still looks futuristic today gives an indication of how striking it would have resembled 25 years ago: an otherworldly artefact that had just crash landed to earth. What you had was a sneaker at the intersection of multiple design disciplines, forms and sources - an uncompromising, hyper-futuristic creation that represented, and still represents, the cutting-edge. A concealed lacing system furthered the sneaker’s progressive visuals, streamlining its appearance in a way fitting of the name it was given. The materials used only served to further this industrial appearance, with a heady combination of mesh, reflective panelling and synthetics enhancing the metallic other-worldliness. At the time, Mountain bikes and their components had titanium, metal-on-metal finishes that gave a futuristic appearance, something which was mirrored in the Silver Bullet and its progressive, almost-mechanical aesthetic. ![]() One of the main sources of inspiration for the Silver Bullet was something close to the heart of Tresser: mountain biking. Though this is a common misconception recently debunked by Tresser himself, you can see the parallels drawn between the two, ultimately becoming an integral, although unofficial, element of the Silver Bullet story. The first, and perhaps the most famous to the 97 and the Silver Bullet story, is the iconic Japanese bullet train. ![]() ![]() But it wasn’t just the natural world that served as inspiration to the Air Max 97, but also other - arguably equally as unlikely - forms and technologies. ![]()
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