1996 Nike Air Worm Ndestrukt

Now here's a pair of sneakers I fell in love with after they were no longer available ANYWHERE! They were the Dennis Rodman basketball shoe. I started seeing them a lot in '96 and '97. Then in '98 is when I started frantically calling stores all over the place to see if they had them in stock. Too late, I know. The funny thing is most people at these shoe stores had no idea about these shoes. I'd call asking about the Nike Air Worm, "The one with the zipper," and it was as though I was talking about something from outer space. These shoes were unique in that they featured a zipper as the fastener which kept them on your feet. But hidden underneath the zipper was a lacing system that also served to help keep the shoes on. Very cool idea. Oh well, I learned to live without them as this was a sneaker that was never retroed. However I did eventually come into a few pairs of these many years after the fact, and the following photos are of the most recent pair I had.

While at the time I was really into these, in retrospect I don't think I'd wear these now. They are a bit too busy-looking and I much more prefer simplistic designs nowadays.