THE EVOLUTION OF VISIBLE AIR by NIKE

Leading up to the 28th birthday of Air Max on March 26, Nike shares the untold story of a cultural icon, from its cutting-edge construction to its adoption around the world.

In 1987, Nike Air was not a new proposition. Runners were already familiar with the benefits of the cushioning technology, which first appeared in the Nike Tailwind in 1978. But seeing is believing.

Nike Air hit a high when it became more than a feeling. Nike designer Tinker Hatfield set out to make the breakthrough technology visible so runners could better understand its cushioning benefits. He created the Nike Air Max with Visible Air, which gave birth to a franchise that forever altered the course of sneakers.

The story of visible air didn’t begin with Hatfield’s design. Rather, it started when David Forland, Nike’s Director of Cushioning Innovation, joined the team in 1985. In many respects, Forland is the world’s foremost expert in visible air. He’s been focused on pushing the technology into unexplored new territories for the past 30 years.

The first prototype of visible Nike Air technology was born in 1987, and the Nike Air Max 1 became the first shoe to showcase it, see the change in steps above and the evolution results in 2015 in the most flexible Max Air cushioning platform ever .