In Extra-Luxe Leather, Nike's Oldest Runner Goes Minimalist
One big hole in a sneaker? Unkempt. Unruly even. But a bunch of tiny little holes looped around a leather Nike Swoosh? Well, that's just impermeably chic.
Nike's Cortez sneaker was originally made for running, and now, in pale leather hues, it's going the distance in every sense of the term.
Disclaimer: If you have trypophobia, this might not be the shoe for you. But back to the Cortez.
See, you don't become the go-to sneaker for Jeremy Allen White or gain a Farrah Fawcett thrash-sesh without being a simply stunning sneaker. Then add in some stylistic holes perforated around the Swoosh, and an already snazzy sneaker becomes even better. And more porous, for that matter, but pish posh.
Plus, this iteration of the otherwise classic Nike Cortez sports a tonal suede stripe down the middle, which brings in another layer of textural variation.
Within the Cortez universe, the sneaker’s Varsity colorway (red, blue, and white) reigns supreme thanks to that pop of color at the Swoosh, which contrasts its crisp white body. And the various celebrity co-signs certainly don't hurt. Like, should we call Bella Hadid? She'd love this. The sneaker also makes a darn good gift as we saw with Forest Gump who really put the shoe on the map back in 94. Shout goes out to Jenny.
Other versions play around with neon accents and pretty pale outers. That is to say, the leather Cortez shoe, available on Nike's website for $125, needed to step it up to compete with its colorful Cortez compadres. So with that, the Cortez's material mash-up, holes and all, adds some nice contrast, which serves not only this sneaker but the collective sum of the Cortez sneaker's lore at large.
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