Alex Crawshaw’s story is far from the usual occupations we feature in our creative campaigns. He’s a drystone waller from Sheffield, and he’s also a pretty big fan of the Nike Air Structure. His travel-to-work ‘beaters’ are actually an old pair of Air Structure Triax, and we think this makes him a perfect candidate to shine a light on in the lead up to Air Max Day 2021.

So without further adieu, let us tell Alex’s tale…

What is your first memory of Air Max?

“Being super jealous of a mate that got the OG Air Max 1 while I was always in Pegasus. I didn’t get visible Air until the Air Max 180 (apart from the Air Jordan 4).”

What’s your main passion outside of the sneaker culture?

“That’d have to be reggae music. Vinyl too.”

Can you give us a short Overview of Your Day to Day?

“Get up at 7ish, have a cup of tea and check my emails etc. Get the kids up (2 boys) and ready for online classes. Leave for work at 8.40. Finish work at 4 then head back home for a shower. I usually have an hour or so online or listening to tunes in my ‘office’ then have dinner and relax on the sofa watching TV. Bed for 10ish. Rock n roll!”

Explain to us the difference between your work attire and personal fashion sense?

“Work attire is dirty jeans or waterproofs if it’s wet. Gloves, beanie and always steel-toe capped boots. Personal is some nice selvedge denim a plain sweatshirt some Nikes and a leather destroyer jacket.”

How is your fashion sense perceived by your workmates?

“I only work with one other guy and he has a similar dress sense to me but he’s not into sneakers. He likes DM’s and a Fred Perry v neck! I think sometimes he thinks I’ve crazy buying shoes to keep in a box.”

We often see brands featuring individuals from traditionally aspirational lifestyles in their campaigns. Do you feel that you identify with the typical figureheads that get highlighted in the sneaker industry?

“Not really, I find the amount of money involved these days is obscene. I don’t hate on the way anyone goes about their ‘collecting’ and I think raffles seems to be the fairest way of releasing shoes but if you’ve got cash you can get what you want. Up until 3 weeks ago I would have said I’ve never paid resell but I had to have the Air Jordan 1 ‘Neutral Grey’.”

Keep checking back on the size blog for more Air Max fan stories!