20
FASHION
JANUARY 20 2012 — WEEK 1
Kick habit
Niloufar Haidari is in the grip of an addiction – to trainers. She discusses her highs and lows
F
or my last birthday, I asked my dad for the light bone/ speed yellow Air Max 1s. There was only one size 3 left in stock and I hadn’t bought a pair of AM1s for at least three months. Obviously, I needed them. Right now, before they sold out. He ingenuously answered my request with “You’ve got enough trainers to last you a lifetime”. Usually I wouldn’t have even bothered getting a third party involved in my mission to build the world’s highest Jenga tower out of brown Nike shoeboxes, but it was the end of September and I had approximately 17p left in my bank account.
‘Step on my kicks and I will hurt you’
Dipping into my savings account to fund my kick habit – for the fourth time that summer – was a far less appealing Plan B. Luckily my dad finally saw the light (read: I ordered them using his credit card) and my post-Cambridge penthouse suite in Soho was spared a further blow to its actualisation. I love trainers. I love that my Air Max 90’s give me a spring in my step no matter how shitty I’m feeling. I love how my Nike x Liberty blazers are the perfect combination of floral and fresh. I love every subtly different panel texture on my all black Ripstops – the Ripstops are my latest purchase, justified because I
needed some trainers for in da club. They’re all black so it doesn’t matter if people step on them! Yes! Except it does. Step on my kicks and I will hurt you. Contrary to the beliefs of the people who wear those department store own-brand brown Velcro ‘trainers’, I don’t wear trainers for practicality. If they’re suede or a light colourway, I don’t even wear them when it’s raining. When the day is done, each pair is carefully wrapped up in tissue paper and put to sleep in their little shoebox beds. They are definitely not festival footwear; anyone who has lusted over the Nike Air Max 1 Patta x Parra Cherrywood’s (RRP £650) can testify to that. Every once in a while I try and branch out into the wider world of footwear; you know: heels, ballet pumps, boots – the more refined members of the shoe sorority. I worry that at the ripe old age of 22, I might be getting too old for streetwear. Existential questions such as ‘How old is too old to be rocking SB Janoski’s?’ rear their ugly heads. Sometimes I let my mind wander and I see visions of myself in six-inch Louboutin’s strutting around LAX, but until Pharrell wakes up and realises he needs to wifey me, the Air Max are gonna win every time. The £650 Air Max 1s!
SHOE BOX Where did you get them? They came out a year ago so I had to trawl through the internet. They’re Jeremy Scott designing for Adidas. You can get them in gold, leopard skin and holigram. I got them on sale for £120. Why do you like them? They make me feel powerful.
What are you going to do if they get dirty? I’ll take them to the dry cleaners. They can sort this stuff out. It’s silk, right? Can you confirm rumours that you can fly to the top of Senate House in them? No, but they make you feel like you have the power to do so.
She’s sexy!
She’s cute!
She’s popular to boot!
Amrou Al-Kadhi (3rd Year, Corpus) spoke to Varsity
Haul your ass to the mal l this weekend to stock up on monochrome sportswear a la the Clueless chicks – you’ll be a total Betty on the courts
Hot stuff!
From wearing your food instead of eating it, to hot sportswear to get your heart racing – get fit and healthy without breaking a sweat
‘Kick The Habit’ socks, $12, shop. ashidashi.com
Ashish Hoodie, On Sale at £30, Topshop Campbells’ Soup Flask, £12, urbanoutfitters.co.uk