With the 30th Anniversary of the Air Max taking place this year, NIKE has slated a tonne of new drops and retros of classic colourways from past years. With its release in 1990 as the successor to the revolutionary Air Max 1, the 90 was introduced with an even bigger Air Unit as well as updated designed to the beloved shoe. Layered with suede, rubberised heel branding, and a mesh base, the shoe was ahead of its time offering a cool new style in the NIKE range, as well as being a tremendous addition to the NIKE performance line.
Originally dubbed the “AIR MAX 3”, it came at the heels of the AIR MAX LIGHT the year prior, Tinker Hatfield was tasked to create a new and improved running shoe whilst advancing their already famous “AIR” technology. With the ground work already established by the AIR MAX 1, this version of AIR MAX splattered Infrared hits along the branding at the heel, forefoot eyestays and the “AIR MAX” branding by the lateral side of the sneakers. It was near impossible to miss whether you were out for a run or walking down the street, the shoe was a real head-turner.
Throughout its lifetime, the shoes had seen some adaptations from collaborations with DQM’s Bacon shoe (Daves Quality Meats) and PATTA’s “Homegrown”, to having it re-invented with the Air Max 360 air unit, current free sole and all over Hyperfuse make with a Lunar midsole encapsulating the Air Unit...the shoe has almost seen it all!
With this years release, the shoe looks to take cues from the Air Max 1 recraft in 2017, with NIKE recrafting the Air Max 90 back closer to the original tooling used in the original release. From the modified shape, slimmed down swoosh and extra padded sock liner, the updated Air Max 90 is a sure fire hit for all NIKE heads, Air Max aficionados and Sneakerheads alike with a closer true to size feel than ever before.
Being brought back in the Rose, Royal, Teal and Volt colourway, this is just the early sample platter that NIKE is looking to bless us with this year. With more styles, collaborations and colourways in the pipeline, keep an eye out on SOLEMATE Sneakers Instagram and website for the latest drops for all things NIKE and more!