Next Saturday 26th of March is an important day in every sneakerhead’s calendar – Air Max Day.
29 years ago on the 26th March 1987, saw the release of the first ever Air Max 1 and Visible Air; a groundbreaking innovation which pushed the boundaries of design. These days we celebrate Air Max Day to honour the introduction of the iconic technology, now familiar to all.
This year JD Sports and Nike bring us the School of Air competition which includes four games you can play to win access to the Ultimate Air Max Experience in London on Air Max Day. You’ve got two more days to download the JD app to play ‘School of Air’, from 18th-22nd March.
To celebrate the glory of one of the world’s most popular shoes, we bring you our rundown of the five best Air Max ever created.
1987 – The OG Air Max One
We couldn’t have a shortlist of the best Air Max without the one that started it all. The OG Air Max one is inspired by the Pompidu centre in Paris, famous for it’s “inside out” design where the staircase sits along the outside of the building. Although the PR & Marketing team at Nike were unsure of how to market a shoe with a hole in it, the shoe’s release brought Nike it’s best numbers in it’s history. The shoe first appeared in red and blue colourways, comprised of a mesh and suede upper, and has continued to be iconic for nearly thirty years, inspiring several other silhouettes and hundreds of colourways.
1991 – Air Max 180
1991 saw the introduction of a fairly uncommon silhouette today, the Air Max 180. This model was particularly notable as it included 50% more air in it’s cushioning than other shoes. The shoe is named after the visible air unit which can be seen around the midsole and outsole at 180 degrees. It shoe isn’t as well-known as it’s 95 and 1 counterparts, but has seen some beautiful releases over the years – like 2014’s “Safari Sole” pack below.
2002 -Air Max 1B atmos “Safari”
2002 saw the first ever collaboration on the silhouette, with the joining of Japanese clothing store atmos and Nike to bring us the atmos “Safari”. The shoe featured several never-seen-before features, including a canvas toebox, contrasting coloured nike swoosh, an off-white midsole with a gum bottom. The shoe also features a rarely seen mini-swoosh on the foxing. We’ve chosen it for the seamless joining of autumnal tones and grey safari print – an unusual joining of patterns and textures. The shoe has been re-released by Nike this spring with some interesting twists, and now includes a rugged suede toecap and translucent outsole.
2007 – Air Max Classic BW “Paris Saint Germain”
To celebrate 15 years of the BW model, Nike released the “Paris Saint Germain”, a shoe wrapped in the colours of the French flag which are also seen on the shirts of PSG football club. The team has been sponsored by Nike since 1989, so the brand thought no better way to pay tribute to France, a country that loves the BW silhouette. The shoe, originally designed by Tinker Hatfield, features the French flag’s red white and blue upper, finished with a blue speckled midsole and fused red streak.
2014 – Air Max Flyknit
From innovation to innovation, the Air Max series are continually renovating and creating, whether it’s new versions of the old, or never seen releases. 2014 saw the joining of two Nike favourites when the Flyknit got the Visible Air treatment, adding maximum support and cushioning.
Check out more details of the day on JD and Nike’s sites, and get your own pair of Air Max from JD here.