THE JOURNAL
Illustrations by Mr Ben Lamb
If you ever feel that you might have missed your shot in life, remember this: Mr Samuel L Jackson was a jobbing actor in his mid-forties when Mr Quentin Tarantino cast him in Pulp Fiction. These days, Jackson is the most bankable star in Hollywood (although, featuring on MR PORTER is when you really know that you’ve made it).
Mr Leonard Cohen was in his fifties and still largely unknown when he recorded “Hallelujah”, now one of the world’s most-covered songs. And there’s a certain irony that Moby-Dick, Mr Herman Melville’s epic tale of a sailor driven to madness in his quest to hook the titular whale, was out of print when the author died and only found success some decades later. Which is to say that, sometimes a person or artefact takes time to land. Below, then, four reissued sneakers that perhaps only now are finding their feet.
01.
Zoom Vomero 5 “Supersonic” by Nike
Feeling supersonic? The Zoom Vomero 5 certainly is. Nike’s 12-year-old journeyman runner is rewarded for its belated uptick with a sleek new treatment, recently also seen on the Cortez and Dunk Low. And while not as outlandish as Dr Samuel Ross’ take on the Vomero 5 – the 2018 collab that brought the silhouette into fashion’s orbit – this new iteration still promises to turn heads. As with the other models to bear the Supersonic branding (to be found on the tongue and insole), expect a display of white shades with jet-black accents.
02.
860v2 Earth by New Balance
With the benefit of hindsight, 2011 is emerging as a high point in sneaker design. Also launched that year, New Balance’s 860v2, like Nike’s Zoom Vomero 5, teamed mesh with plastic panelling to produce cutting-edge running hardware that we are only now getting our heads around, stylistically speaking. New Balance’s decade-plus-old dad shoe is the latest model to gain the attention of Mr Teddy Santis, the Aimé Leon Dore founder who now heads the Made In USA line. Part of a two-pack series that includes a twin “Mars” edition, this “Earth” variant comes in a subtle colourway the employs the fun-sounding tones Rain Cloud, Phantom and Magnet.
03.
1906R Protection Pack (Black) by New Balance
What, these old things? The days of New Balance’s Protection Pack reissues being IYKYK curios are perhaps behind us. We’ve got over the cognitive dissonance it takes to process premium finishes in a design that looks half finished. But given the impact that the line has had within fashion circles, it was only a matter of time before we saw it in black. And, it goes without saying, white – more on which below. This half of a two-shoe release sees the 1906 reborn in Gothic glory, like Dracula reimagined as a dystopian sci-fi. (The “R” here, though, signifying that there’s gel in the heel only rather than “restricted”.)
04.
1906R Protection Pack (White) by New Balance
The Yang to the Yin, above. The running shoe named after the year New Balance came into being, but released – perhaps confusingly – in 2010 has become – perhaps even more confusingly – one of the defining models of our time. As in right now, 2023. And, sure, the dark side could be more seductive, but the white version? That’s where, to many, the shoe comes into its own. Here, the intricate nature of the upper, compounded by the Protection Pack’s distressed details, really shines through. But, hey, it’s your call. All we’ll say is that you have a tough decision to make.