June 1 marks the beginning of Pride Month for 2020 and Nike has prepared a release in tandem with Converse just in time for the festivities. The Nike BeTrue and the Converse Pride Footwear 2020 Collections incorporate LGBTQIA+ themes and symbolism into a range of the quintessential sneakers each company is known for. Versions of the Nike Air Force 1, Air Max 2090, and Air Deschutz serve as canvases for those displays. The first Air Force 1 to be included in the BeTrue collection features a 10-color heel mark inspired by the New York City ballroom culture of the mid-1980s.
The design of the Air Force 1 is representative of the collection’s approach of taking different symbols of Pride Month and incorporating them into each sneaker. While the Air Force 1 draws upon the More Color, More Pride flag introduced in 2017, the rest of the Nike collection echoes other elements of LGBTQIA+ advocacy from the march-inspired Air Max 2090 to the diffusion of the Pride Flag’s colors across the Air Deschutz.
The Converse sneakers in the collection are the 5th range of releases of Pride-themed footwear from the company. From the Chuck 70 to the Chuck Taylor All Star, the More Color, More Pride flag is prominently displayed. That design theme adorns 7 of the high top sneakers along with 2 low top varieties. Proceeds from the sale of each will be given to the It Gets Better Project, Ali Forney Center, BAGLY, and OUT MetroWest, on top of the more than $1 million in donations converse has already made to LGBTQIA+ organizations.
