THE NEXT “IT” SHOE FOR NIKE?

It was recently announced that the Nike x Travis Scott Air Max 270 REACT will be releasing on May 29th. It is interesting for Nike to organise a collaboration project with the Air Max 270 REACT. So far when looking at Travis Scott’s collaborations, they were usually shoes that are already deep into sneaker culture. The Air Jordan line, Air Force One and the SB Dunks all had a piece of history in influencing the sneaker community as it is today. Shoes such as the Air Jordan lines can be said to go beyond sneakers and influenced 90s pop culture as a whole. So it’s confusing that Nike is pairing Travis Scott with a shoes that is fairly new to the sneaker world and hasn’t been a hit. This article is here is answer the questionable collaboration project between Nike and Travis Scott.

It can be assumed that Nike is trying to find the next Air Force One or the next SB Dunk. So far Nike’s most recent anticipated releases have so far been silhouettes that were released a long time ago, the Air Force One, Nike SB Dunk and the Air Jordan Retro line were released in the 80s. This contrasts to Adidas which has consistently managed to introduce new silhouettes such as the Yeezy line and the NMDs which are highly anticipated.

It makes sense for Nike to be pushing the Air Max 270 REACT to be the shoe that represents Nike. Like “Boost” represents Adidas, the Air Max 270 unit on the heel and the React foam in the forefoot represents modern Nike. So what does Travis Scott collaborating have to do with Nike trying to make the Air Max 270 REACT a “IT” shoe? As previously stated before, in the article “The Untold side of Nike’s Collabs”, Nike uses highly anticipated collaborations to generate hype and control the trends in the sneaker community. Nike has already seen the effect Travis Scott has on the sneaker community as his collaborations have been a huge marketing success for Nike. It seems that Nike is hoping that Travis Scott has the same success on the Air Max 270 REACT to make it popular. It is also anticipated that the Air Max 270 REACT will follow up with more collaborations with other brands or designers so that the shoe really gains traction in the sneaker community.

However, there is the case that the Air Max 270 REACT may not get the same hype as the other shoes, as it was the case for the Jordan 33 which also had a collaboration with Travis Scott. The shoes weren’t successful enough despite Travis Scott’s name on it. However, given the fact that is it listed on StockX for more than $1500, the Air Max 270 REACT might just have a chance at being a hit.