This stylish little emblem contained Tn Air branding and a tiny swoosh inside a red circle in the top right hand corner. A week into his work, with the concept well underway, he was told to find the now iconic hexagonal Tn logo a prominent place on the design. These tough half-moon structures made the shoe incredibly comfortable, something Nike wanted McDowell to broadcast to the world as clearly as possible. This innovative system evenly distributed the cushioning across the length of the foot through the use of so-called hemispheres. At less than 340 grams, it was also ultra-lightweight, with other running-specific features like flex grooves in the forefoot and a performance outsole making sure the Plus stood out as a runner.īeneath all of the running tech, though, lay a piece of technology that would bring the Air Max Plus worldwide renown – Tuned Air. His solution was to introduce reflective bars up the front, from toe to tongue. As a runner himself, he found it odd that contemporary running shoes only reflected light around the heel when it was standard practice to run facing the traffic. As well as thinking of how the wearer might perceive it, he also considered how the sneaker might affect the running community. As a result, he designed them to stretch up its sides and curve around each other rather than meeting in a straight line across the top of the foot. The shape of these thin strips of thermoplastic was informed by McDowell’s desire to give the wearer an interesting view of the shoe from the top as they wore it. The TPU exoskeleton, for example, reflected the shape of Florida’s palm trees, lending structure and stability to the upper. McDowell transformed his drawings into novel concepts that were introduced across the Air Max Plus. These simple words sparked memories of his time in Florida, taking him back to the sketches he had drawn of the colours shifting in the sky at dusk and the gentle movement of the palm trees in the breeze. On discovering that the project was named Sky Air, after Joe Skyar – the man who had come up with the sneaker’s Tuned Air cushioning system – he was filled with inspiration. He couldn’t have known it at the time, but this simple vacation would soon provide the inspiration for the Nike Air Max Plus – a unique design that delighted Foot Locker.Īfter returning from his holiday, McDowell was offered a job with Nike, and his first assignment was to work on the Air Max Plus. Meanwhile, a young designer by the name of Sean McDowell was on holiday in Florida enjoying its beautiful beaches, swaying palm trees and vast sunsets. The aim was to create a shoe that would feature a breakthrough Air technology, but the retailer was unconvinced by more than 15 of Nike’s preliminary sketches. You can always change your preference by visiting 'Cookie Settings' at the bottom of the page.In 1997, Nike were in the midst of an important collaboration with Foot Locker. Blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. Because we respect your right to privacy, optional cookies are not set unless you enable them. We would like to set optional cookies to give you a better user experience and to assist us in understanding how visitors use our site. We use Strictly Necessary cookies to make our website work. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies.
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