Atmos’s retro of the Air Max 1 & 95 Animal Pack from 2006 generated all the hype a proper collaborative release should in 2018. Us simple American folk probably attribute the shoe’s success because of today’s sneaker climate and nothing more – “they’re worth a lot because someone told me they’re worth a lot”. A solid amount of us genuinely interested in the sneaker culture have a decent understanding of the cultural influence Atmos has had in fashion and footwear. But for those really in the ‘international know’ understand that in places like Japan Atmos and Air Max are the pinnacle of footwear, especially the Air Max 95. The classic silhouette has a cultural following in Japan and Tokyo’s Atmos brand historically murders AM95 collabs with a passion. The brand’s lead creative director, Koji, is one of the streetwear/footwear culture’s true legendary OGs. For well over a decade he’s been tasked with cooking up icons of the sneaker world and his Animal iterations are instantly recognizable.
Inspiration for the Animal Pack comes from the Air Max Safari, Koji successfully of transferred the Air Safair’s eye catching print onto the silhouette of his people. Like any great creative mind, Koji’s Animal Pack never gets caught being static; every time the Animal Pack drops minor changes are made.
The OG’s from ’06 use a different cow print on the toe box and white above the zebra print (our favorite Atmos x Nike collaboration, ever):
2018’s flipped the white for black and made the toe box more dynamic:
But an extremely rare third version exists, Koji’s ‘Friends and Family’ pair that utilizes an orange below the eyestay. Check them out here in this week’s installment of Sample Sundays (they’re so rare it’s hard to even find a picture of them).
Robbie Falchi
Sneaker History