Nike Air Max 1 Clot Kiss of Death (2021)

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Originally released in 2006, the CLOT x Nike Air Max 1 “Kiss of Death” effectively set in motion a longstanding and ever-prosperous collaborative relationship. Edison Chen, whose label was still in its infancy having been founded just three years prior, brought together the East and the West through a number of cultural influences, each bridged via the beloved silhouette.

 Air Max Day 2021 — 15 years after the original’s release — will mark the return of the “K.O.D.,” though it now features a few, subtle tweaks.

2021’s “Kiss of Death” still draws from traditional Chinese medicine/philosophy. Foot reflexology, a common practice overseas, informs much of the collaboration’s design, the outsole being the most definitive and colorful homage to it. Shades of yellow, green, pink, and blue highlight the many stress points of the body part in question, its vibrant diagram cast within an icy blue, slightly translucent shell. Above, the palette is somewhat more subdued as tanned suedes dress adjacent to red tumbled Swooshes and reflective heels, orange midsoles and embroidery, and some very sparing touches of neon green. The most interesting detail bar none is the see-through toe box whose newly perforated window better reveals the anatomy-inspired graphic within.