The appetite for retro nostalgia rumbles on. Dior looked to the Japanese anime of yore for its pre-fall collection. And now Nike has a seat at the table, digging into a meal once reserved for the fringes of nerd culture: video games.

Or, specifically, the Nintendo 64. Granted, it's not an official collab per se - Nike has gone to great pains to avoid any actual mention of the Japanese video game company in its release of the new Air Max 97 - but the references are clear. Well, at least to anyone with a vague recollection of Mario feeling the need to rescue a perfectly able Princess Peach for the 106th time.

nike nintendo n64
Nike

First, there's the colourway. Drawing inspiration from the N64 console and controller, green, pink and blue accents sit atop overarching grey, with a slice of caramel to the EVA midsole. Then there's additional fonts (an Air Max logo to the heel, 'power' and 'reset' buttons to the tongue, and so on) that have repurposed the actual buttons of the N64 itself.

All of which sounds very nerdy. But the once juvenile N64 fans are now all grown up. Nostalgia paddles in the mainstream. After all, video games define many a millennial's childhood, and revisiting these may well be a cushion to the crippling pain and anxieties of life in the 21st century (or, more likely, just a Very Cool Trend). Helps that Nike has proved a deft hand at repurposing the N64 for a well-dressed audience.

Fancy getting your hands on a pair? Nike has tipped an end of summer online release, with the RRP expected to hit around the £120 mark. Stay tuned at nike.com.