Four months ago, Chris Chase aka Nightwing2303, unveiled a prototype of his signature shoe, the NW1. After weartesting, adjusting the cushioning and changing the materials, the NW1 is nearly ready and is available to preorder in three colourways at the WAU website.
At a first glance, it may seem strange that a sneaker YouTuber is releasing a signature performance shoe. But, if you through Chris’s resume, this isn’t the first time he’s been involved in basketball shoes. He is the only sneaker YouTuber to receive his own basketball shoe PE from a sneaker brand. Collaborating with Brand Black, PEs of the Rare Metal and the Ether were each released, both of them featuring the Weartesters logo.
His reputation to be able to test and breakdown basketball shoes is what probably attracted WAU, a sneaker brand that focused on casualwear. The brand wanted to create their first performance shoe and wanted to collaborate with Chris to achieve it. With Kaito Choi as the designer of the shoe, the NW1 was born.
For basketball shoe fans, this is an exciting moment; the NW1 is the first signature performance shoe of a YouTuber. As one of the original basketball shoe reviewers on YouTube, Chris set the standard to what a basketball shoe review should look like. His ability to dissect the the shoe and give simple but coherent reviews is what kept him as the best basketball shoe reviewer since 2008. And he continues to pave way and inspire sneaker YouTubers and everyone involved in the sneaker community. As it says on the bottom of the outsole of the NW1, “THE BEST JUST NEVER STOPPED CHASING” and Chris Chase isn’t slowing down just yet.
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