Welcome back to GRM’s Top Tier Trainers, the guide to the coldest creps dropping this month.
2021 has already been a surprise-filled year for the global sneaker head community as the industries biggest hegemons continue to announce unsuspecting collabs and revivals of classic and beloved silhouettes. This month is absolutely no exception.
This month brings us a a classic twist on a sneaker staple, an unforeseen street culture crossover, and the arrival of the next generation of Skepta’s Sk Airs – arguably the most highly-anticipated trainer unveiling in recent times. Without further ado, lets get stuck into this months GRM Exclusive Top Tier Trainers.
2nd April – Skepta X Nike Air Max Tailwind V
Skepta and Nike are officially set to release the fifth instalment in the legendary collaboration between the grime legend and the streetwear titan.
The release of the original SK Air was a massive moment in the timeline of grime. It represented the emergence and evolution of the genre from a London specific movement to a mainstream and internationally known sound synonymous with UK culture.
The SK Air Max Tailwind V draw inspiration from the natural world, particularly from the life cycle and electric neon colours of butterfly wings. It features the classic Air-sole that debuted in the late 70’s original Tailwind series, as well as the chrome Swoosh that we first saw styled on the 2019 SK Shox. With this design, Skepta aims to draw parallels between the metamorphosis of a butterfly and his own artists rebirth.
2nd April – Nike Cosmic Unity “Space Hippie”
The Nike Cosmic Unity ‘Space Hippie’ is the latest evolution of Nike’s “Move to Zero” mission that aims to make sustainable sneakers a dominant industry trend. The Cosmic Unity conception blends the success of the Space Hippie project with the reliability of a Nike basketball shoe.
This marks the first time that the reuse & recycle approach has been used on a basketball trainer. The upper features the familiar grey/blue/orange combo exhibited on the OG Space Hippie whilst the bottom and swoosh experiments with a marbled effect of the same colours. This shoe looks like it’s designed by NASA and will surely help you jump to the moon on the court.
6th April – Wasted Youth x Nike SB Dunk Low
Japanese streetwear icon Verdy has returned to reimagine a Nike SB dunk for the first time since he dropped one of 2019’s most converted Dunk Low’s. This time he is creating under his moniker ‘Wasted Youth’ and brings a punk-inspired aesthetic to the collection. Denim and patchwork leather fuse together seamlessly with the remodelled overlays on the toe box. An oversized rose patch blends into the inside swoosh to finish off the punk rock inspired design.
17th April – Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG “Hyper Royal”
One of the coldest creps to come out this month is arguably the baby blue Jordan 1 Retro in “Hyper Royal”. First teased to us back in October of 2019, this highly-anticipated release features velvet panels and stitching dipped in the brand-new ‘Hyper Royal’ colourway. Nike is by no means reinventing the wheel with this one. Yet the classic nostalgia of the AJ1 silhouette and contemporary finesse added through the bold colour makes this design something new all together.
23rd April – Nike Air Force 1 “Paint Splatter”
In recent years paint splatter has become a widely experimented with aesthetic across the streetwear world. However, Nike is famed for perfection and celebrating the finished concept rather than crafting anything that hints at an unfinished or imperfect design.
This is all about to change. The ‘Paint Splatter’ detailing will be making its debut across a range of classic Nike designs such as the Blazer, Dunk Low & Air Max. Yet it is the AF1 that we believe lends itself to be the perfect canvas for this paint splatter drip. Blue paint splatters reign supreme across the design whilst flecks of red yellow and black are added to round out the concept. Super fresh and easy to style.
24th April -Yeezy 500 “Enflame”
Whilst fans of the the Yeezy 500 are loyal to the silhouette, they have arguably been neglected by Yeezy when it comes to colourways. However, they now seek to reverse this reputation and begin offering a larger array of colourways. Starting with the new ‘Enflame’ palette. Comprising of varied textures of brown mesh and a burnt orange foamposite, the Enflame option is bold and outspoken in comparison to its drab tonal predecessors.
28th April- Air Jordan 4 “University Blue”
Few new releases draw the unified attentions of hypebeasts in every corner of the world quite like a new Jordan 4 design. Perhaps for obvious reasons, this one is a little more special than previous reincarnations. The ‘University Blue’ colourway pays homage to Jordan’s own university – the University of North Carolina. Almost the entirety of the shoe is covered in sky blue suede. Yet new details such as an NBA jersey style tag to the tongue and the white-on-grey label offer some smooth contrast points to tie the whole shoe together. This release is likely to be the most sought after design of the month.
30th April – Pharrell x Adidas NMD Hu “Aqua
The Pharrell Williams sneaker saga has been one of our favourite collaboration stories to watch. The NMD silhouette 0quickly took the world by storm by blending the signature quality of Adidas’s patented Boost foam with the bold personality of Pharrell. It has been a while since the formidable duo expanded the NMD range, meaning that the shoe was in desperate need of a modern overhaul. This pastel blue is a certy offering to launch this new series of daring bright colours.