Trail Blazer

Nike has dominated the sneaker market over the past few decades, with its classic silhouettes and signature swoosh, the brand has grown its status from shoe company to cultural phenomenon. Though Nike has featured countless iconic shoes over its years in the business, it’s the ‘Blazer’ that will always hold a spot near and dear to my heart.

The Blazer was first introduced in 1973 by Nike as a basketball sneaker and worn by Spurs legend George “The Iceman” Gervin. When the brand first introduced the shoe, their goal was to emphasis the signature Nike swosh and the shoe quickly became known for its clean, classic design. Over the years, the Blazer has been revamped and regained popularity among sneaker fans. In 2001, Stussy created two limited edition colorways of the show and in 2003 New York-based graffiti artist Futura produced 1,000 pairs of custom Nikes as part of the brand’s Artist series.

Today, the Blazer has become a hot item once again after Virgil Abloh recently designed a limited edition Blazer in collaboration with his luxury street wear brand, Off White. The design features a skewed, black swosh, starkly contrasted with the shoe’s off-white color base. On it the shoe also features Off-White’s signature branding stamp, placed behind the swosh.

I received my first pair of Blazers from a vintage shop in NYC before starting my freshmen year at ‘Cuse. They were basically new, only worn once or twice and I was immediately drawn to how sleek they were. Mine, which are all white leather, reminded me of the Nike Air Force 1, a very popular option, but they weren’t as bulky, which really drew me to them. I wore these shoes on my first day of class at Syracuse, I’ve worn them to parties, and I’ve travelled with them because they’re insanely comfortable. Over the past two and a half years, I’ve been through a lot and so have these shoes, but they’ve still held up and I’ll continue to wear them until the day they fall apart.

Hope you enjoyed!