Released in October 2019, the Nike Air Max 90 “Basement” City Pack celebrates the cultural importance of the sneaker community in the United Kingdom, tying the same amount of BSMNT branding through each design as a symbol of equality.
BSMNT
The Basement Approved is a London-based youth community that was founded in December 2013 as a Facebook group.
Initially, its founder’s intent was to create an alternative space, to talk about streetwear topics with people from all-around the world.
The group has never been fully open to the public and all the entry requests are still manually approved, hence the name ‘Basement Approved’.
After a while by word-of-mouth, the number of participants wildly increased and even the main-topic wasn’t even always streetwear, in fact this fast and big growth changed the group’s vocation into a youth culture community/supporting network.
The community was not being publicized or promoted, those who found out about ‘The Basement’ did so thanks to the most discerning streetwear and sneaker aficionados in London and by the end of the first year, the community was already 5,000-strong.
Young people were using it as a support system to take care of one another, to empower one another and to collaborate with one another.
Members who were depressed, anxious, or even suicidal would post into the community, seeking support from their peers and within no time, they would be flooded with messages of support and assistance.
They imagine the community as the safest space to come out as gay or trans, to find shelter when they were locked out of their homes in the middle of winter, to find paid employment and start their own brands.
This is when ‘The Basement’ was not only a youth community, but it had also become a support network and ecosystem through which young people were taking care of one another, in a time when UK government’s support for young people was at an all-time low.
BSMNT’S COMMUNITY
According to the collective, when they were presented with the Air Max 90 as a base for a second collaboration with Nike, the concept of creating a “City Pack” was always a strong frontrunner, as it echoed their journey from an online to an offline entity.
Three cities were picked as hubs in the UK, in the North, Middle and South, and even though their individual attitude and ethos could be different, all are united by young creatives and their drive to accomplish things by themselves.
Generally, the culture of The Basement is varied but mostly centred around fashion. There are people from different backgrounds within the group that can afford to buy into ranges of fashion from high end to streetwear, but from the different cultural backgrounds of the members everyone can bring something new to the table.
LONDON
The London iteration honors smokey London, with a construction designed to celebrate the human and architectural diversity of the UK capital.
Crafted from various premium materials differentiated by five different shades of grey, this colorway embodies the city’s creative power and seemingly limitless potential.
Starting from top, the colorway is characterized by clean light grey suede overlays, with tumbled leather sidewalls and toe-tips, white translucent plastic tooling appearing on the eyelets and ripstop paneling on the collar.
A metallic Swoosh, contrasted by a velcro mudguard, can be embellished with a choice of four detachable velcro Swooshes, offered up in orange 3M, dark grey ripstop, white patent and pearlescent.
Dark grey leather tongues, reflective heel-tabs marked by tonal Nike branding and insoles sporting playful graphics reading “Real People Do Real Things” put the finishing touches to the upper.
At the end, this mashup sits atop a natural white midsole, a classic large Air Max cushioning unit and translucent outsole blasting a ‘REAL PEOPLE DO REAL THINGS’ pattern.
GLASGOW
Meant to be primarily a tribute to the iconic traffic cones always covering the top of the Duke of Wellington’s statue out of Glasgow Modern Art Museum, it is also stated that the design also homahed the city’s rebellious, joyous and forward-thinking community.
The statue was sculpted by Italian artist Carlo Marochetti and erected in 1844. It was a regular sculpture until the first half of the 1980s, the local population started capping it with traffic cones. It eventually became popular worldwide and traditional practice in the city claimed to represent the humour of the local population.
The shoes come kitted out in an overall deep grey water resistant mashup, alternating nubuck and rubber tooling throughout their composition, with heavyweight ripstop panels implemented on the sidewalls to increase durability.
Further details include safety orange padded leather tongues and linings, reflective Swooshes and heel tabs, all being subtle nods to the tradition of placing a traffic cone upon the head of the Duke’s statue.
The resulting design was later leant over a full smoke grey polyurethane midsole, a see-through Air Max unit and a translucent BSMNT branded outsole.
MANCHESTER
Last but not least, The Basement has reworked the Air Max 90 with a Manchester-influenced design, defined by the city’s fearlessness, and which was sold exclusively at Manchester retailers and on the SNKRS app.
Wrapped in 2 types of water-resistant Codura, infusing a winterized and rugged aesthetic, this robust design is contrasted by hits of nubuck offering a nice juxtaposition across the shoe.
Black tones make a splash all the way across the upper, contrasted by a volt jewel Swoosh located on the sidewall and 3M pull-tab inserts, paying homage to the metropolis street workers’ clothing.
The final pieces of this amazing jigsaw are the visible Max Air cushioning embedded in the midsole and the crew’s ‘Real People Do Real Things’ motto imprinted on both the insoles and translucent outsole, rounding the set off.
Credits: Emanuele Arca, Riccardo Romani
