In October of 1871, the Great Chicago Fire ravaged the Windy City, taking an estimated 300 lives and burning down over 17,000 buildings. Over 150 years later, Nike is looking toward the city’s heroic response and efforts toward rebuilding as the basis of its inspiration for the brand’s latest collection of footwear – the Chicago Pack. Tapping six different Chicago-based sneaker boutiques to design their own model, the rapidly approaching cohort of lifestyle silhouettes is introduced via the Air Force 1 and the Air Max 1 ’86.
Legend has it that the scorching three-day-long fire was set off by a cow knocking over a lantern in a barn. The Bruce Kilgore design amplifies the tale into its own color blocking, fit with faux cowhide medial swooshes. Pairing “Sail” treated cracked leather overlays with vintage suede heel tabs, the latter injects the model with a timeworn finish throughout. While the upper is composed almost entirely out of a warm neutral, the heel overlay is stricken with a soot-inspired “Burnt Black” finish while the tread, tongue tab, profile swoosh and heel spines are cast in a “Claystone Red” that reminisces to the city’s original architecture.
While the original basketball tooling centered on the imagery of the scorching city landscape, the iconic Tinker Hatfield solution focuses on the wake of the fire and Chicagoans coming together to rebuild the former wooden structures with steel, concrete and glass. The AM1 pays homage to this “second city” by transitioning the hues of modern skyscrapers to the premium leather and suede construction. Dominated by a greyscale aesthetic imposed through suede and ripstop accents, a consistent stream of “Blue Chill” illuminates the tread, profile swooshes and uppermost eyelets in a reflection of Lake Michigan. While each pair is composed of an opposing palette, skyline imagery is consistent across each model by ascertaining the insoles and tongue tabs.
The Nike “Chicago Pack” is scheduled to release on October 21st with the Air Max 1 ’86 retailing for $170 and the Air Force 1 Low retailing for $145. In the meantime, each pair can be seen ahead in official imagery.