How Premium Goods Made a Premium Nike (EXCLUSIVE)
Premium Nike Air Maxes by a brand called Premium Goods. Yep, sounds as good as it looks.
After dropping beaded Air Forces in 2022, footwear-first retailer Premium Goods is returning to form with a new Nike Air Max 1 collaboration. It includes two top-tier colorful sneakers in reference to both Premium Goods' Brooklyn and Houston stores, fitted with fine materials that dial into framework of each city.
For instance, luxe leather appears on Premium Goods' Brooklyn Air Maxes, creamily layered and honeycomb-textured with vibrant retro colors inspired by the flashy uniforms of '90s hip-hop stars.
"Our colors were pulled from iconic brands such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, The North Face, Marmot, and Avirex, along with military surplus and sporting goods brands," Clarence Nathan, founder of Premium Goods, tells Highsnobiety.
Nathan designed the Brooklyn pairs, while the Houston team handled the other sneaker, equally shaped by leather and denim. It's a more muted counterpoint to the explosively bright shoe envisioned by the Brooklynites, though the materials used are no less substantive. It's just that with the emphasis on color, the Premium Goods Brooklyn AM1 is especially informed by supple leather.
Nathan's primary focus was on shaping a luxe pair of Air Max 1s worthy of Brooklyn, simultaneously luxe and unlike any other Air Max 1 currently on the shelves.
"Sneakerheads geek out over the touch and feel of materials used on shoes. But I also wanted regular consumers who aren't necessarily sneakerheads to see the colors, pick the shoes up, hold them, then say, 'Wow! These are nice,'" Nathan explains. "I was always trying to keep in mind what would appeal to a wider audience."
That's also why Nathan selected the Air Max 1 sneaker as the base of Premium Goods' latest Nike collab. It's the Air Max that started it all of course, but most crucially Nathan appreciates the model's versatility.
"The Air Max 1 is easily wearable compared to other styles we could've had access to," Nathan says. "I wanted a shoe that my mom, who is 82, could wear, but also my 15-year-old son and it wouldn't look crazy on either person."
It's a smart selection. Not many other Air Max sneakers can pull off Donkey Kong designs and 007 tuxedos as well as the Air Max 1.
The collaborative Nike Air Max 1 "Houston" pairs dropped on July 13 but the Brooklyn pairs are scheduled to drop on July 18 on Premium Goods' website.
Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase.
