Gadget Freak – Nike Air Max’s Breezy Way To The Top

Footwear has always been more than just a case of necessity. Over the course of history and all of the fashion trends that we’ve surpassed, we’ve come to the point where what we wear on our feet is proportionally important to what we wear on the rest of our body and who we are as individuals.

But among all of the shoes, sneakers, boots, stilettos and, occasionally, flip-flops (what’s up Zuckerberg?), not one model of footwear has been as important and equally valuable in its comfort and statement as the Nike Air Max sneaker.

The First Step

Although the newest model of an item is usually considered the best, the first one usually takes the cake when it comes to the pure definition of epic.

Since its debut it 1987, the legendary Nike Air Max I has been on the pedestal as the most ingenious and forward-thinking shoe in the history of footwear.

But how did the Nike Corporation came to the idea of creating such an iconic sneaker?

Nike invented its remarkable air cushioning technology back in 1979, but they didn’t reach the results they’ve hoped to. Two years later, a freshly-graduated architect joined Nike as, well, an architect. His name was Tinker Hatfield, and he got his big chance at imprinting his name in history in 1985 when he got assigned to see what he can do with Nike’s trainer designs.

You would have thought that Hatfield had to look further than he did before as an architect, but that wasn’t the case. The genially creative man got his inspiration from a truly ugly building in Paris, the Centre Pompidou. Hatfield got inspired by the building’s skeletal structure, and though that there’s no reason why the Nike sneakers’ air unit in the soles should be concealed if a whole building can show its structure.

He then explained his idea to everyone at Nike, and after much debate, they all agreed to change the way they’ve worked until that point and show everything that’s going on in the inside of the sole on the outside, just like the above mentioned building.

And thus, the Air Max I was born, swiftly changing the course (and the way of walking on that course) of history.

Never The Same

Since the 80’s, and maybe even more so the 90’s (when Air Max truly took the world by storm), the sneaker line line has become one of the most iconic items in fashion, equally important and dominant as Coco Chanel’s famous suits and Alexander McQueen’s armadillo shoes. The one thing that’s certain in this story is that it will remain at the top of the game, as long as it stays as comfortable as it has made its consumers accustomed to.