Luis Miguel Lozano
Converse Startech was around 65 euros. These
are perfect sneakers. I love them. I had never
seen a pair of Startech until I went there and
found them all! This for me is nicer than the
Weapon and many others. It brings back big
memories. This model is crazy.
I found all this Converse stuff in Spain. I
know Germany had a lot of Converse, too.
There are three different types of Startechs:
made in USA, Yugoslavia, and Korea. They all
have slight differences. It’s the same with Nike.
The vintage running shoes produced in the
USA are falling apart and the ones produced
in Korea are almost fully wearable. The insides
of the ones made in USA are like sand. All the
foam has dried out.
I found lots of earlier Nike running sneakers,
too: the Waffle Racer and the Eagle. I sent
you a picture of the Eagle with the reference
number on the back. I found that pair here
in Spain, and I didn’t remove that sticker. It’s
added value to me because it was the reference
number for a guy in the store. I found them
here in Spain along with the Nike Challenger.
I have nightmares because as I told you before,
when I started, I only wanted a few models. I
remember going to one place and finding lots
of sneakers there, and I couldn’t buy them all
because I wasn’t working yet. I wasn’t a teacher
yet. I had no money. I could only afford those
I really wanted. I remember Penetrators from
Nike, Gliders, Rio, Pegasus, Air Jordan 7... lots
of Air Jordans, and I had to say no. There were
lots of sneakers, but I couldn’t afford them,
and they weren’t my priority. When I started
working as a teacher and had my money, I
went to the place, and they told me they had a
big rain and everything was covered in water
and had to be thrown out. I was pissed. I still
think about it. I was a kid and wasn’t working
and couldn’t afford it, but sometimes I think,
“Oh my God. I could have more than I actu-
ally have!”
The good thing is that thirty years later, I own
them all. My mom kept these drawings at
home and a few years ago, she came to me and
said, “Look what I found!” This is the biggest
treasure in my collection. The rest is nothing.
This is my past. This is what I did as a kid.
Having my collection now and knowing these
are the roots is crazy.
What’s your opinion on retro releases?
I like retro because it gives the youth a chance
to wear a piece of the past. Nike has been do-
ing a great job of making young people con-
scious of the roots of the brand. That’s very
good. There was a time back in 2002 and 2003
when I used to buy some retros. They were not
bad if you wanted to relive those models. As
time passes, the retros are more and more dif-
ferent than the original ones, so I’m not happy
with them. Now, what I buy aside from vin-
tage stuff is new things. I love to try the new
technology and new sneakers. I used vintage
in its time in the 1980s and 1990s. I wore a lot
of stuff. I don’t want to wear retro now and in
twenty years time say, “What was the feeling of
wearing a Vapor Max or a Lunar Epic?” So I
try all of the new stuff. I appreciate when retro
is well done, but I want to continue trying new
things. I don’t want to be stuck in the past.
Sometimes Nike calls me for storytell ing ses-
sions. I love when people pay attention be-
cause they didn’t live through it thirty years
ago. Nike gives me the opportunity to share
my experiences and passion with younger gen-
erations. In most of the cases, you see young
kids with very open ears learn about this stuff.
For me, it’s good to see there’s more than just
tattooed girls and Yeezy. I appreciate that Nike
is working with the roots. I’m sure in twenty
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