20 Years of Nike TN

Since entering the music scene in the early 90s, Benji B’s career, like the TN, has spanned the millennium. We caught up with the acclaimed DJ, Radio Presenter and Deviation founder to hear his memories on the iconic silhouette.

“The TNs first came out during a very technical era of trainers when you had Nike Footscapes and Air Max 95s. Air Max 1 ran the streets in London the same way Air Force 1 did in New York, and for all that crew, the TN was the next natural step. A lot of silhouettes tie into a particular scene or era but the TN doesn’t belong to a genre, and it doesn’t belong to anyone. I associate them with the tail end of Garage era and Drum N Bass, dark Garage and early Grime but Indie kids in the early two-thousands would wear them too. They’ve also been adopted by the Modern Goth and the Art House scenes, so they’ve been pretty ever-present. To some people it’s a really ugly shoe, but to others it’s so sick and beautiful. It’s like marmite – you’re either a TN person or you’re not.”