CRACK

Provocative, Outrageous,
the Nike Shox Total Translates Across Dimensions

When the Nike Shox Total first arrived back in 2000 nobody knew what to do with them. They were a trainer for a new millennium: out of this world and out of time. As Nike prepare to unleash them on the world again in 2019 the question remains: are you ready yet?

Considering their otherworldly appearance, the striking thing about the Nike Shox Total has always been their appeal across disciplines. From basketball players to catwalk models, they are a trainer that blurs the lines between athleticism and art. On the one hand they are pure mechanics. From the shock-absorbing cushioning under the sole to the durability of the rest of the shoe, everything is designed with precision in mind. Then there’s the aesthetic: provocative colours and that unique silhouette.

Perhaps the common thread is that whatever the wearer’s craft, they are a trainer for people who want to provoke a reaction – creators and players daring enough to get things done. In an overstimulated world, it takes something special to stand out, and you don’t wear Nike Shox Total if you want to blend in. Their return will likely make as much of a splash as they did the first time around. They’re a trainer people like to talk about, but that’s okay. Whether it’s local or global, digital or IRL, conversation is the energy that drives things forward.

Which figures, because the Nike Shox Total are trainers for tomorrow. Not only in their ultramodern visual identity – which looks a thousand years early, even in 2019 – but in their radical ethos. They point to a world where old rules about creativity are broken. Where progressive people from all backgrounds can elevate each-other’s ideas.

Wearing the Nike Shox Total for Crack Magazine is Izaak Brandt – a 23-year-old creative working without limitations. He describes himself as a multi-disciplinary artist, spreading his creative energy across breakdancing, video direction, sculpture, painting and music, among almost everything else. His refusal to stay in one lane is what the Nike Shox Total are all about. “It’s important to me to be fluid between disciplines,” he says. “The terminology doesn’t define the practice. It’s about the idea.”

The only requirement he looks for in a collaborator is the guarantee that whoever he works with will be unapologetically themselves. “I think that’s really important,” he says. “People who are trying to push the envelope of their own artistry—I get inspired by that.” Maybe that’s why the Nike Shox Total fit so well. An unmistakable trainer, designed to provoke the future.

Nike Shox Total are available
to buy from Nike.com

Words: Angus Harrison
Photography & Styling: Michelle Helena Janssen and Ade Udoma
Hair & Makeup: Poppy Micklem
Video: Benjamin Brook
Video Assistant: Jerry Dobson
Set Design: Will Hooper
Lighting: Leo Olesker
Motion Graphics: Jacob Faulkner
Music: Henzo - 700
Web design & development: plinth.media

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