In at number 3 we have the Nike Air Force One 'Year of the Dragon' in Black / White
My first purchase of the year and they dont come much better than this. There were altogether 3 year of the dragon tie in's released on the air force one model and while all could of easily made the top ten, I went with just the one as this was my favourite.
To start with the upper has subtle embroidery across a silken material. This is a case of from affar these could pass as a plain black and white affair, upon closer insepection however these are filled with immense subtle detail.
The upper has dragon embroidery etched across it, while the swoosh is finished with a leather dragon scale effect. The tongue gets rid of the usual Nike Air logo in favour of a colourful dragon design.
The midsole was the first release last year to feature it covered in leather, this was included on all three YOTD releases and is a quality detail. The heel tabs are also finished in leather and contain a stitched chinese symbol.
The insoles were not left untouched and although nobody will ever see them it's details like this that warrant this shoe in the top three of the year. The colourful graphic above containing a Chinese sea image provides a great contrast against the surrounding black of the shoe.
The shoe retailed at £155, and this set the bar for premium Air Force One pricing across the year. Anything bearing the AF1-XXX box in 2012 were priced anywhere between £100 and £210. However when they look this good, who cares. I missed the boat when they dropped, called up 2 weeks later and 1948 said they had one pair left and it was my size, so i hopped on the central line after work and managed to get them just in time. Then 28 pairs followed in the following 48 weeks of the year.
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