Photography by Matt Barnes

Here’s Proof Nike’s Air VaporMax Goes With Anything

Date July 17, 2017

When Nike released the Air VaporMax in March, it became an instant icon, not only in the sportswear world, but also in the fashion world. The shoe’s design, which features a flyknit upper and a standalone, full-sole air unit, is revolutionary, both performance and style-wise and is well-loved by both the fashion folk and runners alike.

Our city just got lighter. Nike Air #VaporMax arrives at 3 AM. Find yours at the link in our bio.

A post shared by Nike Toronto (@niketoronto) on Mar 25, 2017 at 1:00pm PDT

Four months later, the AirMax celebrations are still continuing (it is the 30th anniversary of the shoe, after all), with the launch of the #NikeAirSociety, a “league of creatively minded women…fueled by the invisible, the { AIR } that pushes them forward and empowers them to rise.” While the event series is more prominent stateside, here at home, Nike Toronto is taking part by launching a special collaboration with three local female fashion brands: Markoo, Smythe and Hayley Elsaesser.

Nike Toronto Air Society — Photography by Matt Barnes

Each label was enlisted to come up with three limited-edition looks, all featuring the VaporMax in respective colourways (“Pure Platinum” for Markoo, “Chrome Blush” for Smythe and “Black Anthracite” for Elsaesser. And while the designer pieces wouldn’t necessarily be the traditional go-to for styling the shoe, the lookbook shows how versatile the VaporMax really is.

For Markoo designers Tania Martins and Mona Koochek, the “air” design turned out to be a perfect fit for their “bubble” dress, which is made from an Italian fabric that mimics a lightweight version of bubble wrap.

“A month before we really had gone into designing the [spring/summer 2018] collection, we designed this one dress,” Martins tells FASHION. “Then as soon as we saw the shoe, I remember coming back and saying, ‘Here’s what it is and I think we already have the dress.’ It worked perfectly.”

“It has a sporty element, so we combined a little different things — a little history, a little newness, kind of like Nike!” adds Koochek.

In addition to creating the looks, all of the designers handpicked their own female muses to model each style, with Smythe’s Andrea Lenczner and Christie Smythe choosing financier and stylist Amy Patel, Elsaesser picking middle school teacher and stylist Sandy Gill, and Martins and Koochek selecting artist and painter Nadia Gohar.

“She’s a real girl,” Koochek says of Gohar. “She’s 5’4, she’s accessible in that way. We didn’t want to get anyone where we were like ‘We’re using a model.’ She’s a friend, someone who is very Toronto, who’s an artist and just someone who’s got a lot of layers to her. She wears all kinds of clothing, she’s not just one kind of girl and I think that’s what fashion can represent.”