TORONTO – Bruce Kilgore is arguably one of the most underrated designers in the history of the sneaker industry. He is responsible for one of the best selling shoes of all-time in the Nike Air Force 1 and he is also the designer behind the first luxury sneaker that Nike produced with the made in Italy Air Jordan 2. Many will not know this, but well before the production of “retro” Air Jordan models in 1994, the Air Force 1 was one of the first Nike silhouettes to be re-released as the original release happened in 1982 and the re-release occurred in 1986. The Air Force 1 is one of the most influential silhouettes ever designed and 30 years later in 2016, it received a winterized update from the heralded Nike Sportswear footwear designer Ben Kirschner with the introduction of the Special Field Air Force 1.

When I received the invitation from the good folks over at Nike Toronto and Capsule Toronto for this event, I felt it was only right that the first Nike event that I attended was for my favourite silhouette of all time, the Air Force 1. Nike did not disappoint with the invitation as they mailed the invitations in the form of a dog tag and key chain which showed the location and date of the event. In honour of Bruce Kilgore, I wanted to wear a classic White/White Air Force 1 so I decided to pull out the 2014 NikeLab Air Force 1 Mid CMFT SP’s from my closet for this event.

Upon arriving at the event, I was greeted by numerous Nike employees and told that the event is separated into two spaces: the upstairs being the retail space with the actual products along with the downstairs being the event space for food and beverages. The upper floor was set up with Air Force 1s of numerous variety along the walls including the SF-AF1’s, the Lunar Force 1 Flyknit Duckboot, the Air Force 1 High Flax, in addition to the classic Air Force 1 Lows & Mids. The lower floor was set up with a bar powered by Belvedere, a variety of dishes from Barque BBQ, and a DJ booth. In addition to the two-storied store that became the event space, there was also a large military truck outside of the event on Bellair Street with the Nike and FORCE branding.

The Nike Special Field Air Force 1 (SF-AF1) can be seen as the perfect combination of the original Air Force 1 (AF1) silhouette along with the Special Field Boot (SFB). Kirschner was able to put his own touch to the iconic silhouette with the incorporation of premium full grain leather, rip stop ballistic nylon, and interwoven & adjustable ankle straps. Every pair of the Special Field Air Force 1’s will come with two straps along with a matching tote bag, and the paracord ankle strap can also be used as a handle for the accompanying bag.

The SF-AF1 will release on Saturday November 5th, 2016 in two colourways for men (Faded Olive/Gum & Black/Gum) in addition to two colourways for women (Light Bone/Sail & Golden Beige/Linen), exclusively at Capsule Toronto Bellair and online at Nike.ca. The White/White colourway that has been seen throughout social media will be releasing exclusively at ComplexCon on November 5th & 6th, 2016.

Thank you again to everyone at Nike Toronto & Capsule Toronto for the invite!