Nike Air Max
line of shoes released by Nike
Nike Air Max is a line of shoes produced by Nike, Inc., with the first model released in 1986. Air Max shoes are identified by their midsoles incorporating flexible urethane pouches filled with pressurized gas, visible from the exterior of the shoe and intended to provide cushioning to the underfoot. Air Max was conceptualized by Tinker Hatfield, who initially worked for Nike designing stores.
Overview
Air technology was first used by Nike when M. Frank Rudy, an aeronautical engineer, approached them with the idea and design in 1977. The first shoe to implement the technology would be the Nike Air Tailwind in 1978. Air Max was conceptualized by Tinker Hatfield, who initially worked for Nike designing stores. As the name indicates, all Air Max shoes feature one or more translucent pouches of pressurized gas embedded in the midsole and visible from the outside of the shoe. Referred to as "Air units" or "airbags," their stated purpose is to provide superior cushioning to traditional foam while also reducing weight. The design originated from the company wanting to implement bigger air units in the sole but not being able to cover them up properly like previous models. The effectiveness of the technology for this purpose is disputed; nevertheless, the shoes enjoy consistent popularity, especially among sneaker enthusiasts and collectors.
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This entry incorporates text from “Nike Air Max” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.