The Alpha Project Returns with the Nike x Clot Air Max Haven

The NIKE X CLOT AIR MAX HAVEN heralds the return of the sorely-missed Zoom Haven silhouette, this time in a new hybrid form which adds Air Max 97 tooling to the lower half of the shoe.

Founded by Edison Chen & Kevin Poon, CLOT has been the forefront of the Hong Kong streetwear scene for well over a decade, with several Nike collaborations already under its belt. For this next collaboration project with Nike, we’re taking a step back to the late ’90s, with two gems from the Nike design archives joining forces to form a masterful mash-up. The sole unit should be recognisable to almost everyone, as the Air Max 97 upholds a powerful presence on the streets, but the upper section of the shoe might be a little less familiar… To find out where it comes from, we have to take a trip back to 1999 and the Alpha Project: a progressive and innovative chapter of footwear design.

An important era in footwear history, the Alpha Project came from Nike’s in-house Innovation Kitchen department and resulted in some exceptional designs such as the Presto and Seismic, many of which went on to influence later releases. CLOT has picked out the Air Zoom Haven cross trainer from the spring 2000 collection, with its sidewall straps, enhanced lacing system and comfortable and flexible toebox section. Richard Clarke’s unique design had almost totally disappeared by the mid-2000s, but not before showing up in several memorable forms, such as the COMME des GARÇONS x Junya Watanabe collaboration pack and the Japan-exclusive Chile Red and Prism Violet ‘B’ releases. In 2019, the Haven’s design elements still look as avant-garde as they did twenty years ago, and with a few slight tweaks and additions, the Haven upper looks to be totally at home on top of the 97 sole unit. Three colourways are due to drop this season: White/Off White-Sail, White/Sail-Deep Royal Blue and Volt/Dark Grey-Pure Platinum. The footwear drop will also be accompanied by two tracksuits that match the Volt and Deep Royal Blue options.

The NIKE X CLOT AIR MAX HAVEN is AVAILABLE NOW: hit the banner below for full stockist details.

Imagery from END.