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OUTSOLE OUTSOLE OUTSOLE OUTSOLE OUTSOLE OUTSOLE OUTSOLE A spotlight on the highly praised and globally known company Nike. But highlighting the 90s era of fashion, sport and technology.

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THE NIKE AIR MAX 90 Released in 1990 as its name would imply, the Air Max 90 effectively became Nike’s second flagship sneaker after the Air Max 1. It was designed by architect Tinker Hatfield whose initial imagining turned into the original “Infrared” colorway, a scheme considered to be the most popular and the most legendary. This color blocking then went on to be the blueprint for future releases, which have garnered their own dedicated followings.

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Originally designed by Hatfield, the Air Max was far and away Nike’s top running silhouette. When designing the 95, Lozano’s goal was to make a bold statement, presenting an entirely new take on the sneaker.

Debuting in a electric colorway, the original Neon Volt Air Max 95 helped establish the bold color codes that dominated the ‘90s. What set the shoe apart, however, was a gradient pattern going up the sides of the shoe, a complete departure from the more restrained prior generations.

Featuring four waves of color fading from the light grey eyelets down to the black midsole, the gradient pattern was inspired by rainy days at the Nike campus and the beautiful Oregon landscape. Essentially the sneaker equivalent of a geologic striation, Lozano developed the concept while “looking across the lake out into the trees, and I began picturing the process of rain eroding and the earth and thought it would be interesting if the perfect product was unearthed by erosion,” he said.

Human anatomy also served as a source of inspiration. The body’s complex web of tendons and muscles working in tandem was the blueprint for the shoe’s upper, which featured layered panels reminiscent of muscle fibers and flesh. While not easily visible at first glance, but look at the shoe from the rear (as displayed in the classic Nike phone number ad) and you can clearly see a version of the human spine and its accompanying vertebrae.

was told flat out that there was no way Nike would produce that shoe.

After some coaxing, however, Nike finally relented. Those same prototype sketches also failed to feature the hallmark Nike swoosh anywhere on the shoe. “I had initially designed the shoe without a swoosh because I wanted it to be aesthetically strong,” Lozano said. During the preproduction process, a small swoosh was added on the top corner of the side panel. It was visible, sure, but they never made it big enough to distract from the gradient—Lozano’s intended design aesthetic.

Aesthetic details aside, what truly made the Air Max 95 a trailblazer was its unique technical features. The first Air Max to feature air cushions on both the heel and the forefoot, the 95 utilized air pressure technology to mold to the foot’s curvature. Original releases even featured a “25 PSI” air pressure reading on the rear air unit and 3M Scotchlite uppers. According to Lozano, “The whole shoe was controversial because it wasn’t your typical running shoe...from the design to the color to the little swoosh, it all caused controversy.”

THE AIR MAX 95

The black midsole was as much a practical decision as a stylistic one.

Lozano and his team grew tired of seeing footwear with predominantly white midsoles in the often dreary Portland weather. As white midsoles always inevitably grew dirty, Lozano opted for black midsole instead, which felt both fresh and hid some of the silt that piled up as you ran.

While synonymous with Nike running sneakers and apparel today, 20-plus years ago the volt colorway was not in the athletic company’s wheelhouse.

When presenting preliminary sketches of the shoe in that colorway, Lozano

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THE AIR MAX 97

THE AIR MAX 98

THE AIR MAX PLUS

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Designed by Christian Tresser, the low-top model has historically been marketed as inspired by Japan’s bullet trains. And while partially true, the Air Max 96’s successor drew cues from the ripples Tresser witnessed in ponds.

Furthermore, the sneaker’s original “Metallic Silver” colorway took after one of the designer’s life-long interests: mountain biking. Throughout the ‘90s, most equipment and accessories for the sport were clad in titanium and silver colors, which paired well with the Air Max 97’s wavy upper.

Throughout the last 24 years, the Swoosh has tapped the likes of Undefeated, Skepta and Off-White for collaborations. (The most latter included Tresser’s design in its “The Ten” collection from 2017.) Yet, the pair has enjoyed a quieter retro cycle than its Air Max 90 counterpart. As the model approaches its 25th anniversary, it’s likely Nike will bring attention to the 1997-design via collaborations, special editions and general releases.

Back in the mid ‘90s, Nike Air Max cushioning was in the midst of a rapid evolution. Sneaker designs were progressing quickly, with the Air Max 95 and Air Max 97 becoming the industry’s aspiration for footwear perfection. The Air Max 98 has always played somewhat of a second fiddle to its predecessors, however. The younger sibling to the Air Max 97, the AM98 was built on the same Nike Air-Sole, but lacked the smooth, undulating lines of the 97. There were still some wavy lines, but there were also stripes and patches that chopped up the shoe into different sections. The 98 just didn’t flow as well as the 97. Regardless, it’s worth noting that the AM98 released in plenty of eyecatching colorways, many of which would return in 2018. Here’s a look back at some of the highlights from 1998.

Though Air Max running shoes are rarely taken seriously by hard-core runners, the AM98 was definitely comfortable. One of the main issues was the lack of arch support in the shoe – it wasn’t designed with the overpronator in mind.

Few runners were training for marathons in them, but they were perfectly fine for shorter runs.

The person behind the Air Max Plus or Air Max TN is none other than Tink… nope this time it wasn’t Hatfield who designed this shoe, but Sean McDowell!

Before we tell you how McDowell came up with the design of the Air Max TN, here are some hard facts. The silhouette first appeared in 1998 under the name Air Max Plus. From the very beginning the model was a big seller, but as mentioned at the beginning the shoe was rebranded and is now called Air Max TN! By the way TN stands for Tuned Air and that is what a running shoe is!

Sean McDowell designed the Nike Air Max Plus even before he joined Nike.

Sean didn’t design the shoe at home or in a studio - nope he created the silhouette on the beach in Florida! In a later interview McDowell stated that this was his ‘creative time’. What this means is probably written in the stars!

Speaking of the stars, let’s get to the sky. Because Sean always watched it from the beach. Besides the sky he also looked at the palm trees. The highlight for him was that the clear blue sky turned into a dark blue, ‘devouring’ the palm trees. Sounds really chilly and maybe while watching the sunset he was listening to a Hip Hop record from the old days! Classic!

NIKE AIR FLIGHT HUARACHE

The Nike Air Flight Huarache’s aesthetic swagger was in what it stripped away. A swoosh?

No need for one — it’s not like this shoe could have been made by any other brand. That Dynamic Fit, exoskeleton, leather and neoprene combined to make this one of the purest expressions of performance to date.

While a maverick team — led by intuitionist Tinker Hatfield, and assisted by Eric Avar — worked behind the scenes to translate the Huarache running technology to the courts, it took a crew of collegiate game-changers to give the Nike Air Flight Huarache an extra ascent in terms of publicity. If the sport’s style leaders were dressing from the feet up, the Huarache was an instruction to those shorts to relax a little, because this shoe had it under control.

As the seam length of the shorts lengthened, the Huarache countered with a reductionist school of thought — “Where can we just trim this baby back a little bit?” Tinker asked, because that minimal upper needed to be complemented by an equally stripped-down sole.

That leads to the eternal question: which came first this rebel shoe like no other, eclipsing a previous decade of bulk, or basketball’s completely new attitude and aesthetic?

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“WHEN YOU SIT DOWN TO DESIGN SOMETHING, IT CAN BE ANYTHING, A CAR, A TOASTER, A HOUSE, A TALL BUILDING OR A SHOE, WHAT YOU DRAW OR WHAT YOU DESIGN IS REALLY A CULMINATION OF EVERYTHING THAT YOU’VE SEEN AND DONE IN YOUR LIFE PREVIOUS TO THAT POINT.” - TINKER HATFIELD

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