Nike was scheduled to drop a brand new Independence Day-themed Air Max 1 immediately, however the launch did not go down as deliberate regardless of arriving at a handful of shops final week. Final week, rumors emerged that the sneakers had been canceled attributable to their Betsy Ross flag heel embroidery, though Nike tweeted (embedded beneath) that the footwear would nonetheless drop, simply not on its web site. Now, new data is surfacing which suggests the footwear might have been extra problematic for the model than we first thought.
In keeping with Wall Avenue Journal, the “4th of July” Air Max 1s had been canceled after former NFL quarterback turned social activist Colin Kaepernick spoke up, telling the model it ought to rethink the discharge. The report states that Kaepernick reached out on to Nike after photographs of the sneaker had been shared on-line, telling the model that he and others discovered the design to be offensive due to the Betsy Ross flag’s connection a time in America historical past when slavery nonetheless existed.
Picture through Nike
The footwear had been faraway from Nike’s SNKRS launch website final week, and WSJ provides that the model issued a recall to retailers with out clarification. The botched launch has induced the colorway’s aftermarket worth to surge, with quite a few StockX asks north of $1,000.
“Nike has chosen to not launch the Air Max 1 Fast Strike Fourth of July because it featured an outdated model of the American flag,” the model informed Sole Collector.
That Air Max 1 is not dropping on our website. We suggest reaching out to your native retailers for availability in your space.
— Nike.com (@nikestore) June 26, 2019
