story

"The guys down in Baltimore, they created Colour of the Month and brought the shoes back. We probably got them a little later, but when we got them, they were the go-to for the freshest".

"I am Brooklyn's finest, the New York giant, God's favourite, DJ Clark Kent, and this is Colour of the Month. I was raised right here in Crown Heights. When it came to Air Force 1s, we would have to go Uptown to get them".

"That's why people call them 'Uptowns' or 'Harlems', because vets would probably have the best selection, KB-CONS or CHOY's, all of those stores Uptown. Air Force 1s dropped in '82, but they didn't really click on until about '84. And the guys down in Baltimore …"

"… they created Colour of the Month and brought the shoes back. The lucky part for me was, as I was playing basketball, that we got to travel. So I would go down to these cities and I'd shop by top, but …"

"… it didn't jump off until the shoes got to New York City for New Yorkers. We probably got them a little later, but when we got them, it was the go-to. When I was growing up, we didn't have social media. The stoop was social media, being on the block was social media".

"So to catch something fresh, you either had to be figuring it out yourself, or you had to see somebody with it. And once you saw somebody with it, then it became a competition to make sure that when you figured it out, you figured it out better. Colour of the Month was only in the DMV area, so for New Yorkers …"

"… it didn't start. The fact that I was pulling up with Colour of the Month shoes was kind of crazy. Air Force 1s are perfect. They're not too much, and they're not too little. It's the simplicity, it's the beauty, it's the clean panels …"

"… it's the not confusing, it's the fact that you can wear them with jeans, you can wear them with shorts, you can wear with a pair of dress pants. I just think this is perfect. And this is just my favourite shoe, but we're done here in my city. We're going to go up to Harlem and see my man Bahr, he's going to talk that Air Force 1 for you".

"Ladies and gentlemen allow me to introduce one of Brooklyn's finest, my brother Bahr Brown. What's going on? My name is Bahr Brown. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Moved to Harlem in '95, and I've been Uptown ever since".

"I had a choice of whether I wanted to stay in Brooklyn and go to high school or come to Rice. Being from Brooklyn, that was a big decision to make. Then I was like, 'Yeah, I want to do it'. And it changed my whole trajectory of sneakers. It was a dude that transferred to the school that I went to".

"He was a ball player. When he came to the school, I looked at his feet. I saw the chunky sole and was like, 'Wait, those must be the Air Force 1s that everybody is talking about'. Before those came, every other basketball shoe was the same. That one had a chunky sole and it had Air …"

"… and everybody was enamoured by the Air technology like 'Yo, does it really have Air in it?' My friend was like, 'Yo, you like kicks? You've got to come to the Bronx'. And I was like, 'What's up there?' He was like, 'Juman. He's got colourways that you ain't seen in them Air Force 1s you want'".

"Uptown New York is just different, period. Like, from any other city, Philly, Baltimore, D.C., everybody wants to wear the crown, but they know that this is the Mecca. Like, New York, basketball, whatever you want to talk about …"

"… kicks, whatever, it all starts right here. I put a gum bottom on a bunch of projects that I've worked on just because it sets off the sneaker. If I had to describe the Air Force 1s in one word, it would be …"

"… 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'. Well, I'm a little more simple. If I had to explain it in one word, I would just say 'perfect'. It's good money, right here. Yeah, you're right. It's good money. And this pink is nuts. Yeah. That's crazy. You know what we should do?"

"We should go Downtown and check out Scarr. Yeah, let's go eat. Yeah, let's eat and go see your man. We came Downtown to check my man Scarr, my man Hugo".

"What's up fellas? My name's Scarr. Owner of Scarr's Pizza, here in the Lower East Side. Hugo, I'm from the Bronx. I run the Stüssy Store out here. For me, what I think of the Air Force 1s in one word, I think 'diversity'. Reason being is because …"

"… up until this point where it was mostly for people from our background, it's got to the point now where everybody wears it, from every background. Now the idea of passing down the legacy and the love for something is, it's something that's just …"

"… inbred in us as people. You see it. That's my favourite detail, the silhouette. Yep. This is the most simple, most perfect thing that, to me, Nike's ever done".

"I mean, this shoe is probably, like, the perfect canvas. It's just going to keep getting better and better. Can't wait to see. What's … like, who does what, and what comes next. Air Force 1's a social currency for young, Black kids …"

"… and young kids from different neighbourhoods that are disenfranchised, it's social currency. These are our cars. So that's why we're here, man".

"So, we've been to Brooklyn, we've been Uptown, now we're Downtown. And we spoke about a lot of Air Force 1s, and we spoke a lot of history, we spoke a lot of fun, we spoke a lot of things that meant something important to us".

"Thanks for everyone coming through. We've got the whole of New York representing. This is Colour of the Month".

Air Force 1 Colour of the Month: New York City