A Brief History of Nike Air Max Shoes

The Nike Air Max was one of the first sneakers to give wearers a look inside their shoes. Read this history of Nike Air Maxes now.

Today Nike is one of the most successful companies and its shares are at a record high.

And its all thanks to air pressure. Adding air pressure to a sneaker or shoe was a revolutionary move which changed the way people wear shoes forever.

It gives the wearer an extra spring in their step whilst retaining the design and structure of the shoe.

And Nike has always been at the forefront of this change, improving both the way we walk and the way our feet interact with our shoes on a daily basis.

Today Nike is changing and innovating again as they integrate technology into their shoes. But let’s look back at how they got to this point.

Here’s a history of Nike and how the air max Nike shoe has changed the world.

1. The First Air Sneakers Are Born – 1978

In a world-first in 1978 Nike released the Air Tailwind sneakers. They were designed by a NASA engineer and involved pumping air pressure into a tightly confined space to keep the shoe taught and so that those who ran in them literally ran with a spring in their step.

250 pairs of the shoes were sent out to stores in Honolulu, Hawaii in time for the local marathon. This was purely to see how well they would sell and they sold out within 24 hours, despite their high price tag of $50.

Testing in the lab revealed that runners actually used up less energy when they wore the Air Tailwind’s allowing Nike to promote their sneakers as the brand runners and joggers just had to have.

2. Air Max One – 1987

Who doesn’t want a sneaker that go by this name? It was a further ten years before Nike gave us the chance to see another one of their air sneakers in the form of the Air Max One.

Nike is very much a brand associated with the 1980s when style, fashion and individually came into vogue. Their shoes became iconic. The design of the Air Max one was what was important and this was what propelled the Air Max into even more of an iconic sneaker than the Air Tailwind.

3. The 1990s and Beyond  

The 1990s saw an explosion of Nike air sneakers onto the market. Almost every year there came a new brand from the Nike air max light to the Nike air max 95 all the way up to the Nike air max 360 launched in 2003.

Each year there were not only improvements in design and how the air pressure worked with the show but also in style. The sneakers became a style classic and having that year’s pair became a must-have accessory.

History of Nike

The history of Nike is an intriguing one. After the launch of the Air Tailwind in the 1970s, Nike saw gradual growth and a sudden rise during the 1980s and 1990s thanks to their clever combination of a new innovative product – the air max Nike – and a sense of style.

The product was invented by an engineer from NASA and have has been proven to improve runner and jogger’s capability.

But the air maxes became an amazing brand because they set the trend for sneakers today through their clever innovative design.

If you are interested in reading more articles about fashion and design be sure to check out other articles on our blog.