The Nike Air Max 90 “Bacon” arrived a decade and change after its initial release. For those unfamiliar with the story, Dave Ortiz of Dave’s Quality Meats drew inspiration from bacon, egg, and cheese, along with his butcher shop-concept sneaker boutique. The two ideas sparked a tasty treat for sneakerheads and appreciators of art.
Years after, the iconic Nike Air Max 90 “Bacon” returned for Air Max Day. While most boutiques just moved the pair like a pack of meat, UNheardof crafted the perfect package for the pair by drawing inspiration from the shoe’s DNA with some Cincy flair.
UNheardof wants you to take home the bacon with an exclusive giveaway which you can learn about here.
We also had the chance to chop it up with UNheardof’s Phillip Lipschutz. We discussed the importance of the shoe, the inspiration for the packaging, and more.
Learn what he had to say below and be sure to enter the giveaway on Instagram.
Nice Kicks: How did the packaging for the “Bacon” tie into UNheardof?
Philip Lipschutz: Inspiration comes from the meatpacking industry and culture of Cincinnati with pork and the Cincinnati-German history.
As a huge fan to the original release just wanted to pay homage to how the original release went back in 2004.
Why was the packaging important for the store but also for customers?
PL: To me, the shoe means creativity and imagination is the most important thing when it comes to design. This was one of the first shoes that I can remember at the creativity and the design in the imagination around it it was pure genius I was never able to get the original release, but I’ve always admired the dedication and hard work in the creativity around the original release.
I wanted to do my best representation to pay homage to that, kind of like when Kanye West samples a Michael Jackson song.
NK: How did the public and people on social media react?
PL: The reaction from our customers receiving the shoe was a huge. Everybody was super excited, blown away from the storytelling in the branding him and then his (Dave Ortize) reaction that we received on the Internet from other people outside of our city and Our Circle.
I’m jealous that they don’t have it and just would love to have an opportunity to get a pair of shoes packaged like this for their collection.
I’ve had tons of DM’s and messages and emails of people asking if they could send their pair or if I could give them the secret sauce, so they could do it themselves. It’s been awesome to see the reaction be so positive.
