NIKE AIR FORCE 1
-legendary-
ˈlɛdʒ(ə)nd(ə)ri/
adjective
- described in or based on legends.
- remarkable enough to be famous; very well known.
i.e.
The Nike Air Force 1 is nothing short than a legendary sneaker.
It was released in 1982 with the slogan “Air in a box”. This was because the AF1 was the first basketball to feature the Air pocket. Nike had already released the Nike Tailwind as the first shoe to feature the Air pocket, however, it was much harder to get it into a basketball shoe.
The designer of the AF1 ; Bruce Kilgore is said to have drawn inspiration for the shoe from the Nike Approach hiking boot. For the outside of the sneaker however, Kilgore wanted something completely different.
At that time not only basketball shoes but also most regular lifestyle sneakers featured the traditional herringbone traction pattern. Kilgore wanted to come up with something way different. So he came up with a circular outsole pattern as it would help basketball players’ ‘pivot’ move in the post. This new innovation made the AF1 a real basketball shoe and was handed out to basketball playing weartesters.
So among these weartesters was a young man who had joined Nike in 1981 as a corporate architect. His name was Tinker Hatfield. After this, Hatfield moved to design Nike’s athletic shoes instead of their buildings. Hatfield went on to design the Air Jordan 3 and many other iconic sneakers and became the legendary shoe designer that we all love.
When the Air Force 1 went into production Nike signed six NBA players to wear them on the NBA court. They were known as the “Original Six”. This ‘Original Six’ consisted of Moses Malone and Bobby Jones of the Sixers, Michael cooper and Jamal Wilkes of the LA Lakers, Calvin Natt and Mychal Thompson of the Blazers.
Although the AF1 was discontinued in 1984, demand for the sneaker remained extremely high. Because of this high demand, a large number of distributors started asking Nike about the possibility of re-issuing the shoe. This was unheard of back then and Nike thought that the idea made no sense. They thought customers would not be interested in old shoes.
However the high demand made Nike rethink the idea of discontinuing the shoe. These were the first steps towards retro-ing.
So in 1986 the Air Force 1 returned. This iconic sneaker came back because fans demanded it.
Oh by the way Nelly has a song dedicated to this sneaker and it was banned by MTV due to excessive product placement.
Today the Nike Air Force 1 is one of the most loved and adored sneakers out there and I have a feeling that it’s gonna remain that way for many more years to come.
Follow us on Instagram and join the sneaker movement : https://www.instagram.com/thesneakulture/?hl=en
