A navy suede Air Force 1 sounds like the kind of shoe nobody ever asked for and almost everybody could still find a use for. This is one of those — except with an addition that makes it a little more interesting than yet another colourway: it’s the SB version.
What the SB letters do and don’t buy you here
The SB line was built for skateboarding, with chunkier tongues and a sole that can take a beating. On this Navy you see a trace of that in the slightly more robust build, but let’s be honest: most pairs of this will never see a rail. They get worn because navy suede simply looks good, with a black Swoosh and a black sole keeping the whole thing calm.
And that’s where my note sits. On an SB model you usually pay a bit more than on a standard Air Force 1, for qualities a non-skater barely uses. Whether that’s worth it depends entirely on what you’re after: a tidy dark sneaker, or a skate shoe that also does tidy duty.
Quiet, and here that’s a compliment
What works for this colourway is that it isn’t trying to prove anything. Navy suede is wearable all year, pairs with almost anything dark, and ages more gracefully than a white leather pair. No print, no collaboration, no story you have to buy into — just a material and a colour doing their job.
It’s set to arrive in mid-November, and Solezilla.com is already showing an early listing: one shop in euros at just under 177 euros. Nothing in pounds or dollars yet, so UK and US buyers are looking at imports until local offers appear — and with scarcity clearly not the problem here, there’s no rush to overpay. Keep an eye on the SB Air Force 1 page as more shops come online.
If you want to see what the rest of the Air Force 1 line is doing, or browse wider across Nike, you can do it at your own pace. A restrained pair for people who like suede and like dark, with an SB price tag you’ll have to justify to yourself. Grail or Bail? Your call.