At the time, 1987, a running shoe inspired by the high-tech architectural movement probably came across as highfalutin. Nike should have just stuck to jogging, right? It didn’t and the visible “Big Bubble” of the Air Max 1 model launched an arms race of cushioning hardware, as well as the brand’s flagship line. In its best-known guise, the original featured vibrant red accents to match the escalators turned feature points of the Centre Pompidou in Paris that influenced the designer Mr Tinker Hatfield. Here, reimagined in muted greys and greens, and following 36 years of sneaker innovation, this once-radical concept looks as comfortably at ease as it feels.

Mr Cali DeWitt’s résumé reads like Zelig for the digital age. It is, however, more likely that the designer and artist pops up in bizarre places more through warping culture around himself than mere potluck. Briefly a nanny for Ms Frances Bean Cobain, the daughter of Mr Kurt Cobain and Ms Courtney Love, DeWitt appears, in drag, in the inlay for Nirvana’s 1993 album In Utero. He has made artwork for Faith No More, directed videos for Iceage and created merchandise for Mr Kanye West’s The Life Of Pablo Tour. With the latter in mind, he now helps fill a hole in adidas’ roster with his take on the Copa Pack version of the brand’s mid-2010s NMD 1 shoe. The result has something of The Matrix about it, with speckling across the Primeknit uppers, alongside the artist’s signature orange branding.

We have Dr Samuel Ross of A-COLD-WALL* to thank for the reemergence of the Zoom Vomero 5. First released in 2011, the fifth iteration of Nike’s supportive running shoe gained a second life in 2020 when it was reimagined by Ross with a chunky appendage at the heel. Meanwhile, the Vomero line is, suitably, still running – a 17th edition lands imminently. But for those looking for a retro, if futuristic, runner, this reissue of the fifth edition sheds Ross’ more outlandish elements, while injecting a bit of colour in a Worn Blue guise. With shades of blue drawing out the multi-layered textures of the upper, this makes for a tidy remodelling of the It-shoe.

From a distance, without bifocals, this could be easily dismissed as your standard dad shoe. A closer inspection reveals it to be one of New Balance’s most hyped sneakers. Which is, again, not something you could have imagined in 2010 when the 2002 was launched to an almost complete lack of interest, before disappearing for the best part of a decade. Reissued in 2019 as the 2002R, the model now has a cult following. This reworking by the footwear designer Mr Yue Wu ups the ante with a deconstructed feel to its premium buttery suede uppers.