Global sportswear giant Nike has teamed up with an independent Liverpool shop to create a new pair of trainers based on the city’s former overhead railway.

The Liverpool Overhead Railway (LOR), which once served the city’s docks and ran along the Strand, has inspired a pair of Nike trainers, after the brand teamed up with skate shop Lost Art.

The trainers, called the Nike SB Bruin, feature a map of the LOR on the sole and replicate the colours worn by the guards when the railway was in use. The design is a result of Nike’s ‘Support Your Local’ campaign, which collaborates with local artists to create city-themed trainers.

David Mackey from Lost Art says: “The Liverpool Overhead Railway that served the Liverpool Docks provided the main design cue.

“The Bruin takes its colours and materials from the guard’s uniforms and the LOR itself. Black pigskin upper with two woolen Swooshes coloured to represent the faded numbers on the front of the trains.

“The wool being used is also a nod to the main import to the docks at the time and the term ‘Woolybacks’ being given to the dockers who unloaded the ships.”

The LOR opened in 1893 and was often referred to as the Docker’s Umbrella. It closed in 1956 and has since been almost completely dismantled. Although mostly used for work on the docks, a special service on the line was used on Grand National day to carry passengers to Aintree Racecourse.

The Nike trainers inspired by the LOR are priced at £60 and went on sale on 14 March in Lost Art on Slater Street.

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