Now that August is coming to a close, it’s time to take stock of a very important question: what are the sneakers I’ve worn the most this summer?
First up: the JJJJound New Balance 1890. Sleek-looking. You can still get these. I wear these to work; I wear them to Il Cortile when I’m having linguini with clams. They pass for everything.
Then there's the Salomon 2026 ACS Pro L’ART, the follow-up to the original ACS designed by Arthur Kar. These were neck-breakers—I wore them a lot.
The Nike Zoom Streak 3 is a legendary racing flat, and every time I pull it on I get flashbacks to the Flyknit Racer era. 2013. I was there. Check my Instagram, I had the Baggio jersey and the multi-color Flyknit Racer. I have receipts for everything.
You thought they were all gonna be fitness shoes? No, we can’t forget about the Free the Youth x Air Jordan 16s—they pulled up right here on Prince Street and hand-delivered the shoes. They took over the city. To see a 16 back, with this impact—I’ve been wearing these for weeks.
Then there's the Nike Pegasus Premium “Pixelated.” A lot of people debate the Vomero Plus versus the Pegasus Premium—me and my friend Ronnie disagree, he’ll call me for an hour and I’m like, “OK I get it.” But this “Pixelated” colorway on the Pegasus Premium has become a personal favorite, and my pair already shows serious wear and tear. I might have to re-up.
Now, if you've followed this series, last year at the end of the year, I said that there was one sneaker of the year, one that everyone got wrong: the Nike Vomero Plus. And I don't switch up. You know me—I’m loyal. I’m still wearing the ones I featured in that video on my walks. You know how many pairs of these I have? Probably about seven or eight at this point.
But the one colorway that I’ve worn the most this summer is the Ekiden model of the Nike Vomero Plus. If you don't know, the Ekiden is a two-day, long-distance relay race held in Japan, and the stamp on the tongue of this shoe nods directly to that tradition. I’ve worn this one basically every day in the summer. If you still don't have a pair of Vomero Plus yet, what are you doing?
Yeah, you look at these shoes, it’s been an unc summer. But unc still got it.
