Nike Air Humara x Jacquemus

This Nike Air Humara x Jacquemus design was part of the first apparel collection created by the footwear brand and the high-class French fashion label. A stylish 15-piece set, it was carefully built over several years, bringing together the expertise of both brands to create garments and shoes with a naturalistic but sporty aesthetic. The label’s founder, Simon Porte Jacquemus, is a fan of the Nike ACG line, making the Humara the perfect choice for his debut collaborative effort with Nike, and his passion for the shoe clearly comes through in its suave, refined look.

It rests upon a powerful base whose foundation is a black rubber outsole covered in various grip patterns. A waffle tread fills out the center of the forefoot and extends partway into the heel, where a Nike swoosh has been embossed. Then, swooping in from the edges of the forefoot and heel are large, angular grip pads that help to steady the foot, before the studded sections on the toe and heel, as well as each side of the midfoot, bring added stability to the wearer. This chunky outsole is joined by an even bulkier midsole that is particularly deep at the heel, thus providing excellent support. Internally, it blends Nike Air with foam cushioning for a soft step, while externally, it mesmerizes with its black and brown grid pattern. This repeats across its entire surface, with ridges in the sides of the forefoot and heel making for an even more intriguing appearance.

On the upper, a rich tone of Ale Brown covers the leather mudguard that surrounds the forefoot and the underlayer that stretches backwards across the rest of the shoe all the way to the heel. Beige suede overlays arc gracefully over the flanks, which have been left smooth and clear, without the usual webbed lacing system seen on other Humara designs. Instead, there is intricate stitching on the suede side panels that indicates where the textile webbing begins. Out of this, four small looped eyelets emerge on either side, each one dark brown with a bright pink stripe down the center. The uppermost eyelet, meanwhile, is created by a longer strip of textile with the same striped design that passes through a loop in the suede overlay before disappearing into a slit made in the leather flank. It then changes direction, reappearing out of another thin hole a little further back and wrapping around the heel, where it is held in place by another loop in the Ale Brown leather outer.

Elsewhere, the toe is also adorned with a beige suede overlay, this one slotted in behind the forefoot mudguard to form a “T” shape whose lower end points towards the bottom of the tongue. Here, it attaches to a band of light brown fabric that runs up the middle of the tongue, offering more loops for the beige-colored laces to thread through as it goes. At the top, it passes through an opening in the Ale Brown leather of the tongue before reaching out over its peak to create a useful pull tab for the wearer to hold onto when putting the shoe on.

On the inner, the mesh lining comes in an appealing shade of tan which then returns on the dual branding that has been printed onto the Ale Brown insole. More flexible mesh softens the back of the tongue, which has a white patch sewn into it. Back on the outer, yet more subtle branding effects can be found. Firstly, Jacquemus lettering has been lightly debossed into the Ale Brown leather at the top of the heel and tongue. Then, a miniature metallic gold swoosh has been placed in the center of each sidewall, bringing an eye-catching sheen to the flanks and rounding off this classy collaboration with style and sophistication.