although he’s appreciative of the famous Scouse swagger, Roland has moved away from the traditional Liverpudlian dress code. His clothing style is cut from a minimal cloth; the style of his footwear is the polar opposite though. As the owner of a cafe deep within Liverpool, Roland spends a lot of his days during the lockdown making Bacon rolls – a perfect profession to pair with the Air Max 90 Bacon.

What is your first memory of Air Max?

“This might be similar to a lot of people, but I remember everyone having 110s (Air Max 95s) and it being a bit of a weird thing if you didn’t. This reached a peak when I was in secondary school. At this time, I was much more into skate shoes and Nike SBs, but I eventually buckled and got them. I had them in black and dark grey so I could wear them in school. They were sound like, I still blended with the skaters and that, but got a bit of a pass off the lids, 

“The first time I really coveted a pair of Air Max though would be 2007. The atmos ‘Animal’ pack. That was firmly a bit of me, although I never owned those, and they remain the Grail for me, it started a huge love affair with the Air Max 1 and the 90s. Couldn’t even guess at the amount of those shoes I’ve owned.”

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

“Tough to put anything ahead of food. I was brought up eating anything and everything, so it’s always been a huge part of what I enjoy. I’m a keen cook at home, and a few years ago I started working as a chef. I could spend all day every day working with food and figuring out how to make it as delicious as possible.”

Can you give us a short overview of your day-to-day?

“Professional moocher. On the move. I like being busy and having a few things to do in the day. I usually get up, contemplate life, have a coffee, go to the markets and see what’s good; pick up some good produce and some curveballs, then head to Nomad (our cafe) and meet with the other chefs to see what we can bring to the menu for the week, or plan ahead, 

“After work in the flat, it’s a pretty chilled time. My flatmate is a music producer/beatmaker. So it’s really nice to wind down the day, make some nice food (again) and listening to his creative process at the same time. Listen to some beats, or some records, chat shit, plot the future, rinse and repeat.”

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

“Work is pretty functional, I like canvas gear, because it doesn’t stain too badly, and we’re talking pretty exclusively Birkos (Birkenstocks) or crocs (In attack mode). But it all has to be pretty functional and forgiving,

“The rest of the time I don’t really know, I love clothes and switching styles up. I don’t know if I have a go-to ‘look’. I have a deep love of Japanese streetwear and how far they like to push a trend; this gives me some inspiration anyway. The constants are I always wear oversized, and colour match pretty heavily. I’m not one for a wide range of tones, at one time. And skinny jeans can get in the bin.”

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