NIKE SERVER: Air Max Everlasting

Transforming his personal passion for collecting into a successful archive and resell store, Nutland faced one central problem: that old sneakers’ soles will ultimately become damaged and breakdown – an issue that resulted in many pairs being returned in an unsellable state.

Finding a remedy in the arms of Vibram’s “Repair If You Care” initiative, Nike Server sees classic sneakers revitalised with an unconventional and rugged aesthetic courtesy of the Italian outsole manufacturer. Retaining the structure and essential appeal of their uppers, Vibram add their technically-advanced outsoles to fan favourites, creating a new shoe that pays homage to the old.

Ahead of Air Max Day 2022, END. dive into the world of Nike Server, discussing the everlasting appeal of Nike Air Max sneakers and the art of transforming a classic Into something entirely new.

The fact that they’re not available to purchase from a shop — that’s why I go for more obscure things. This idea of going back and finding things that aren’t easily available is something I’ve always been interested in — and not just in terms of footwear, but in other aspects of my life. When it came to starting my shop, it was important having products that nobody else was selling. Prior to starting Nike Server, I was looking at what everyone else was selling and it was all the same stuff. With Nike, there is so much out there, and this idea of digging for things is something I find so appealing.

Like that pair there *points to a yellow pair of Nike Team Supremes from 1999*: when I first saw them I was like “What on earth are those?”. The whole process of finding things and researching what they are is so interesting to me.  

I’ve always grown up in a household that’s very aware of the environment; my dad works in that sector and it was always something my parents were keen to teach me about growing up. When I started my degree in sportswear design at university, all my design work was based around that idea. I started Nike Server when I was in my first year at university, it kind of arose when I had 20 unwearable pairs of shoes. I couldn’t afford to go and buy 20 donor pairs, but I didn’t want to throw anything away — so I looked for a solution. Everything just stemmed from there.

The fact that Vibram have a recycling service that you can use called the “Repair If You Care” campaign, there was no other company — as far as I’m concerned — that provides a service where you can take a pair of shoes and just buy a sole, without having to buy anything else. I learnt about the Vibram London Academy just by Old Street, and I went in and it was the perfect place to go — there was no other company that does that. Pairing that with how good the soles are — they’re some of the best you can buy — and it all just linked together nicely.   

So, the main issue is probably scarring; say you’re doing it with an Air Max 95, if you took an Air Max 95 sole off and put a new one on, they’re the same shape — it’s going to cover up where the old sole came off perfectly. But, if you’re doing it with a Vibram sole, different soles have different depths, so if you take a 95 sole off and replace with a Vibram sole, it isn’t always going to cover up where the old sole has been removed. This was a bit of an issue to begin with, but now I work with the Vibram team at London and we paint over the marks.

Another issue is what the sole is being glued to. Obviously, it’s being glued to the upper, but the mudguard of that shoe could be a synthetic suede that’s perishing or a vinyl fabric that’s peeling. But, since working with Vibram, we’ve managed to figure out ways around these problems.

Also, trying to find some way of recycling the old soles that I’ve taken off. If I can’t take the sole off myself, then Vibram will remove the sole and then give me all the retrievable waste at the end of the whole process. Initially, I was going to use Nike Grind, but they don’t do it anymore in England. I have bags and bags of old soles, but I won’t be throwing them away.

Here in London, the cultural importance is huge. I’m not from London, but I can understand the importance of Air Max here. It’s more prevalent in England than it is in America — it’s not just sports shoes, there’s a whole cultural thing behind it. There are different areas of England which have different Air Max associated with them, with different cities having certain shoes that are their go-to.

I think with Air Max — and especially current sneaker culture — there’s so much customisation, and this is just another branch of that. With Air Max especially, people are more attached to their shoes — it relates to the whole cultural thing — so people don’t want to throw them away when they’re unwearable. It ties in nicely — people will grow up with a pair of Air Max and hold onto them, and when they’re unwearable, it’s the perfect harmony of getting something old that you’re attached to and doing something sustainable with them.

The 95 looks so good with a Vibram Spike sole — the lines work great, I wear my 95 Bacons quite a lot. I’ve also done quite a few pairs of Sunder Max — they look really good, too. The Sunder Max and the 95 are definitely my top two.

95% of the feedback I’ve had is good. Generally, I haven’t had bad feedback — and I was kind of expecting it. With my page, I’ve got a lot of older sneakerheads following me, and with that comes a lot of purists. But generally, it’s been quite well received.

I had Nice Kicks do an article and share it on their Instagram, and their audience is predominantly American. A lot of people didn’t like it, they didn’t understand it, telling me I was going to get a cease and desist. Other than that American article, it has been well received. I think in America there’s a lot more purists — they’re much more into heavy restoring. Since I’ve started doing this, every time I go in the workshop there’s always a pair of Nikes behind the desk that’ve been re-soled.

It often comes down to what’s in stock at the time, but that’s not usually a massive problem. What I do is send photos of the uppers that I have to Vibram in Milan, then they send me what soles they have available and think will match. They will then send a box of soles to the workshop in London, where I’ll then take the uppers and start matching them up.

With the workshops we did in Milan and Paris, there was a big selection of soles. It depends on the scarring when you take the old soles off, too. When that is an issue, it depends on the type of sole — a cupsole, for instance, or is it a bit deeper, that sort of thing. But sometimes it can be something totally mental — like putting a wellington boot sole on an Air Max 95, it can be really experimental. You never really know until it’s all finished.

There is a couple of the Sunder Max colourways that would definitely be up there — there’s a good green and brown colourway, and a good green and grey colourway that someone actually sent me for re-soling recently. I have been lucky enough to get my hands on pairs I’ve wanted to do, so I’ve covered quite a lot. I would also quite like to broaden it, too — maybe do some Jordans or something. That would definitely anger purists, but maybe that’s more of a reason to do it.