Vintage collectables; the original “Nike Omega Flames” were the trainers of “Top Boys” I was informed by Nigel Lawson, a while back. He told me they were so bold, you could only pull off wearing them if your status was such, that your taste couldn’t be questioned. This stuff of (urban) myth and legend, of course lead to the recent reissue by Size. The flame faded uppers appeared originally on the Omega Flame, similar to the Nike Pegasus, but also on the track spike #NikeFlameMulyr. The Mulyr, of course prompted early hybrid/conversion to wearable trainers, long before the “Internet” and sole swapping was a thing. The colour way was also revisited across a number of Nike silhouettes as recently as 2019 with the Nike Air Max Plus Tiger. But before those, in the early 2000s, the Nike Track Racer sported the colourway, but with black toe guard, lace stay and heel counter. These were track and field shoes, but without spikes. I’m not sure of the original purpose, but with the help of archivist @spartan_harriers I snapped up a pair of vintage Track Racer. The condition was fair, but needed some work to interior parts, and re-lasting. I soled with donor Air Max 1 units, something I’ve never seen before with other flame related customs. I didn’t want to make a pair of flames. Especially as I can get a reissue.
Another pair that I have included in this write-up, are the Omega Flame Crib shoes I made. I love the simplicity of crib shoe construction. A bit like slippers.. you sew the simple pattern together wrong way around, then turn inside out! Almost as simple as that, but not quite. The pair shown here are hand dyed suede and leather, but the pattern design shown was never used. This was printed onto fabric, so the swoosh, lace stay, heel counter and toe guard and underlaying sock are just printed on one piece. This was made but never used, as I favoured making something a bit more real looking. I ended up finding a home for the crib shoes, but not the Air Max 1 hybrids. Those I have kept and wear when I need to be feeling a bit bold!
November 2019/ March 2021