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SIN CITY: NIKE TAILWIND OR JAILWIND

Before ASICS GEL-Kayano's were synonymous with jailbird shoes, that crown belonged to the Nike Air Max Tailwind IV (TW4). 

Two decades ago, those in the know would've recognised this shoe as the 'Jailwind'. The name saw a bit of a resurgence on a bigger scale across Syd + Melb in 2019 from the TW4 retro. But a lot of adlay + prior scene that grew up in its inception felt there was blendering going on. Honestly, if you were in the adlay sneaker scene at the time, you’d get it; there was truth to it. Not any different to how OG ASICS adlay sneakerheads look at the ASICS scene now.

That's not the point of this post. It's in the same spirit Mahmood Fazal put out for Vice in 2018. Given our whole intent to preserve our niche 'street' culture, it'd be an injustice to an entire era + history to not cover this.

We spoke to three lads across intertwining scenes (jailbirds, searchers, adlay sneaker collectors) about where the name 'Jailwind' first came from. Just like Mahmood's article, we hit the same theory crossroads:

Theory 1: TW4 were the first Air Max available to purchase by inmates through a prison canteen system. The name was born inside, and only HKs in there were allowed to rock them. If you weren't HK, you were getting your pair rolled by real big dogs.

Theory 2: TW4 was the most commonly racked pair from Foot Locker and Rebel Sport in the 2000s. Easy pickings at Rebel Sport especially, since the store's display system had entire shoe pairs out on the retail floor with their boxes. Coupled with its prison context, the people doing the racking were jailbirds, searchers and lads chasing quick cash (these retailed for $200+) or just wanting to look fresh.

Theory 3: TW4 uppers have a series of plastic lines running top to bottom, unintentionally mimicking prison bars. Combined with its prison context, the adlay sneaker community coined the term as a joke that stuck, eventually turning into a symbol of status.

Honestly, given how poorly documented Sydney's whole 'street/lad' culture is, the nickname can probably be attributed to all three, depending on which subculture you identify closest with. Probably not what you wanted to hear, lol.

So now we want to know from you. Which one's the real one? Or is there a fourth version we've missed because we haven't spoken to the right people who lived a different side of it? If you had a pair, where'd they come from? Bought/retro, borrowed or better not say? Most of our stories are anonymous; trust us to do your story justice.

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