Nike Zoom Heritage 'N7 Pendleton'
Colorway: Thunder Grey/Ghost Aqua/Light Redwood · Style code: CQ7696-001 · Release date: November 7, 2019 · Price: $309 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Nike Zoom Heritage 'N7' (CI1683-100)
N7 is Nike's programme for Native American and Aboriginal communities, and it funds sport rather than simply marking it: proceeds go to the N7 Fund, which supplies equipment and support to clubs and organisations running youth sports in those communities. The 2019 release marked ten years of the collection.
For that anniversary Nike worked with Pendleton Woolen Mills, whose patterned wool has been made in the American northwest for well over a century, and built the collection around weaving. The graphics came from Nike designer Tracie Jackson, who is Navajo, and ran a storm pattern through deep reds, earth tones and turquoise across an Air Jordan, a Pegasus, an Air Force 1 and this shoe.
The Zoom Heritage splits its upper between grey nubuck and the patterned textile, with ornamental stitching and light redwood trim standing in as the reference to rug weaving. A Zoom midsole and a clear gum outsole finish it. Turquoise runs through the collection as a colour associated with family and community in Native American and Aboriginal cultures.