You really thought a trend was gonna take over the sneaker world and Nike wasn’t gonna get in on it? Come on now. Last year, when New Balance debuted the 1906L penny loafer, it set the kicks discourse (kickscourse?) ablaze. Never in recent memory had a shoe proven so divisive, so incendiary, and yet so…oddly alluring. By fusing the New England brand’s signature chunky mesh dad shoes with the construction of a classic penny loafer, NB created a footwear Frankenstein that commanded serious mainstream attention. The likes of Hoka, Puma, Vans, and Converse all quickly followed suit with interpretations of their own, and suddenly the sneaker loafer was here to stay. Some love it, some hate it. The thing about controversy is it often sells, and if something is selling, the Swoosh will come around to it sooner or later.
Revealed earlier this week, Nike’s upcoming Air Max Phenomena gets even weirder with the sneaker loafer trend. Where the 1906L at least made half a passing effort at replicating the shape of a traditional penny loafer, the Air Max Phenomena gets bored halfway through and totally freaks it on the sole. For the construction of the upper, Nike sticks with what you’d expect from a loafer, using a pebbled leather and replacing the traditional penny slot with a Swoosh.
It’s closer to the sole that things start to get really weird. A textiles stripe adorns the bottom of the upper, with one colorway featuring black suede and the other—courtesy of the Serena Williams Design Crew, a Nike creative hub headed up by the tennis GOAT—a metallic purple. Below that, the penny loafer facade is abandoned entirely and replaced with a chunky Air Max sole. Of the many sneaker loafers that have hit shelves this year, it’s certainly the most audacious.
Release info for the Nike Air Max Phenomena has yet to be confirmed, but all signs point to these hitting shelves before the year is out. When they do drop, get ready—if the last few months are any indicator, people are going to be talking about them.
