Debuted in 2004, the meat-inspired arrangement was just one part of the thematic boutique once owned and operated by Dave Ortiz in the Bowery-section of Manhattan. As the story goes, Ortiz landed on the Air Max‘s “Sail/Sheen/Straw/Medium Brown” color palette after three or four months of pondering about what he wanted his collaboration with the Swoosh to look like. Two nights before his deadline, the boutique owner found himself starving, which led him to his local bodega to order a bacon, egg and cheese, Initially hesitant to use his ultra-coveted opportunity to bring a meat to sneaker form, Ortiz concluded that “everybody loves bacon,” which would mean everybody would love his Air Max 90. And he was right, not only in the moments immediately after the pair’s launch, but also almost two decades later as the “prime cut” has been aged for a return after 17 years.



