Nike Air Max - How it all started

The history of the Nike Air Max

Nike has been on the market now for quite a while producing popular sneakers and shoes. The company started with the legendary Waffle Design. Phil Knight and Bob Bowerman used a waffle iron to create the first shoe sole with a waffle pattern. New models were strongly accepted in the fast growing shoe business back then. Since every athlete were hungry for new running shoes and sneakers.

Young architect changes the world of sneakers

A star athlete of the University of Oregon by the name Tinker Hatfield was studying architecture. After finishing his studies he was being hired from Nike Headquarters Oregon in 1981 as an architect due to early contacts. He was in charge of and developing architectural changes of the Nike Headquarters, for their retail trade and showrooms. At a design competition for new Nike Shoes Tinker then was asked to join the competition and show off his talent in designing not only building but shoes as well. Soon it was more than clear that this guy had mad talent, so he was encouraged to continue designing shoes for Nike. Tinker is sure that this job is a mixture of Art, Science and cultural experience. For him this was the fulfilling of a dream as he described it in a video on himself. He felt that designing shoes is where the real action is.

Nike commissioning the Air Packet Series

Tinker’s first big project for Nike was the first Air Max. The world’s first shoe with visible Air pocket sole. The original Air Max, an absolute novelty back then.
There were a few other shoes known as the Air Packet Series. The Series included the following: Women’s Air Max in white/blue, Men’s Air Max in white/red, Men’s Air Trainer High with Velcro and the Air Safari with a print.
Tinker Hatfield says, that no matter if designing a car, a house, furniture or shoes, you are drawing from your own experience.

Decisive Inspiration – A shoe with a whole – Air Max

A lot of Nike Designers had been sent around the world to get new impressions for designing new shoes. That is how Tinker was inspired the most by the Centre George Pompidou in Paris than by any other building in the world. Built in 1977 this building was known for its open architecture and its service pipes being on the outside. That is how he came up with the revolutionary idea of making the Nike Air Cushion visible.

Maximum Steaming – The Air Cushion

Nike tried to make their Air Cushion bigger and researched how to put as much air in it as possible. They were looking for the maximum shock absorption, especially in the heel area. The cushions were covered with polyurethan and therefore invisible for the customers. That is why most of the customers did not understand the Air System and how it worked. The breakthrough came in 1986 with a big and high cushion, that was wide enough to guarantee enough stability. Of course Nike had it patented for the air pillow.

1987- The birth of Nike Air Max

The question everybody asked now was, how can you get a cushion this big into a shoe sole, without the shoe looking like a colossal fin! Tinker’s idea was as simple as genius. Why not show the Air Cushion, so that every customer knows what he is buying and so he can see that he is walking on air. Words put into action, Tinker designed the first Nike Air Max with visible Air Sole. The shoe world was shocked.

The unwanted new Air Max – a late success story for Nike

The of the Air Max was not really a big success. People did not welcome the shoe with open arms, nobody wanted to actually wear it because its look was so fragile and loud. Many runners and Nike employees did not understand, even the marketing management from the running department was going mad. He could not imagine selling a Nike shoe with a whole in it. Some experts thought the shoe was just too flashy and that the visible Air Cushion would leak soon while running. The Nike Air Max just did not look like any other running shoe these days. The color coordination with the red was kind of odd as well. Until shortly before Tinker was dismissed as a designer for Nike, he tried to break new borders and intervene new roads with the first Air Max. Tinker Hatfield’s creation of the Air Pack Collection has decisively brought the big success that Nike has earned today, it really was the breakthrough for Nike! The brand with the swoosh loosened itself from leading brand s like Puma and Adidas and became the biggest manufacturer in sneakers and sports shoes worldwide. With his shoe designs Hatfield became world-famous. He is the mastermind behind a whole lot of other collections of Nike Design Shoe Icons like the Air Trainer, the Air Safari, the Huarache, The Agassi Model and the Air Jordan (III-XV, XX, XIIV, XV). And some famous

Basketball Shoes

. His designs will always point the way in shoes and sneakers ahead. He surely made a name for himself with the first Nike Air Max by setting his own monument in the sneaker Olymp.

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