Update: After Travis Scott and John McEnroe wore the sneaker for an official campaign shoot, the Nike Mac Attack is making its official return on the 23rd of June, 2023. Nike also released official images of the sneaker which have been featured above and throughout this article.
Original Story: The Nike Mac Attack is Jon McEnroe’s signature shoe that was first released in one colourway back in 1984. Lately, it’s becoming a topic of discussion for sneakerheads with collaborative efforts popping up, including a selection of Social Status pairs with colours that take direct aim at retro basketball sneakers like the New Balance 550.
However, it wasn’t until the great Mac Attack roll-out started with Lebron James and Travis Scott that the OG colourway of the shoe started to hit the mainstream.
Has Nike left it too late to bring the Mac Attack back? There’s no arguing that the hype surrounding sneakers like the New Balance 550 and Adidas Forum has slowed down considerably. However, we’d expect the shoe to make waves now that the sneaker has received an official release date. Whether you like it or not, that’s what Travis Scott does.
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The Mac Attack is One of the Great Signature Shoes
Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe. Four hard-headed athletes who made careers out of the ‘bad boy’ image synonymous with the great sporting era. And while Chuck and Rodman only really made the headlines in the 1990s, it was McEnroe who almost founded the idea of hot-headed gamesmanship in the 1980s. Who better to give a signature shoe?
Early advertisements painted McEnroe as a “Rebel With a Cause” – a la James Dean – but it was the three-quarter cut Mac Attack shoe that did most of the lifting. While others were sporting the classic white tennis shoes e.g. the Adidas Stan Smith, the Mac Attack hit the ground with features like a checkerboard tongue, sloping mid-cut design, and contrasting Light Silver/Black colourway.
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We Haven’t Seen Them Since, Until Now
The Nike Mac Attack was one of the only Nike signature shoes to never receive a ‘Retro’. The closest we had was the Nike Manor from early 2012, alongside a handful of samples floating around the internet, but until the reissue was announced earlier this week, we never received an official retro of the shoe.
Even Nike themselves had to turn towards sneaker resale store Rif Los Angeles, to source a pair for Travis Scott. It was likely these shoes that served as the inspiration for the latest collaboration between Travis Scott and Nike for his very own reverse-swoosh Mac Attack OG.
According to an article on Complex, “the former Nike employee who helped Travis find the vintage pair at Rif insists that it wasn’t part of a marketing push, and was motivated instead by the artist’s genuine appreciation for the shoe.” However, the news of a collaboration between the two brands certainly begs to differ.
Are the Mac Attacks Getting a Retro?
The Nike Mac Attack is officially returning on the 23rd of June, 2023. This is weeks after Travis Scott was spotted performing in a reverse-swoosh Mac Attack OG, pictured below.
There’s no denying that a collaboration between the two has sent shockwaves across the sneaker verse, and if they were follow up with canvas iterations in collaboration with Social Status, as showcased by NBA player and sneaker legend PJ Tucker, it’s time for the Mac Attack takeover.
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