Every week a different FADER staff member will pick a clothing item or accessory that he or she has lately been spending a lot of time with—or would like to—and write a little love letter to it. We would’ve done a column on who we’re dating but that seemed a little bit much. This week Naomi Zeichner talks about her dude's new Nike Lava Domes.
When I met my boyfriend we lived in Portland, Oregon. He wore a pair of soft gray suede Nikes from a thrift store. After he inherited them they held up for two years but started smelling terrible one year in. I never smelled the smell because we weren't dating then.
In New York he's worn desert boots in the winter and low Zig Zags in the summer. This fall, both were at a breaking point and I was like, You could buy some shoes. He wanted something a little bit more muscly then his Clarks but needed something neutral enough to wear to the office with dress shirts. I'm glad he found these Nikes, because they work for him. He wears them with khakis and then spills beer on them. We went to Iceland and he went to the arctic beach, hung out with sheep and climbed across lava with them on. They're a solid approximation of the old shoes he loved, just sturdy, clean and pumped with better air. Nike says the new Lava Domes represent the spirit of the past and the outdoor enthusiast. My boyfriend says they look like what former vegetarian Portland Trailblazer Bill Walton would have worn on Sundays in 1977. I'm thankful the hiking-style laces are in vogue for 2011 parties, that the chunky black rubber on the sole and toe caps updates their retro silhouette and that after almost three years living in Brooklyn, we both remember what doug fir trees smell like and still want to trek.