Nike’s Air Max series has developed a cult following in the world of sneakers, especially in Europe. We have curated 5 pairs of the most rare and sought-after Nike Air Max sneakers ever made, all of which perfectly encapsulate the avant-garde and experimental nature of the shoe.
The Air Max’s spot on Nike’s roster of legacy silhouettes comes not by way of having a superstar athlete associated with the shoe, but instead through its innovative and groundbreaking look.
The shoe was created by Tinker Hatfield, the prolific designer perhaps best known as the mind behind the Air Jordans 3-15. Hatfield, previously an architect, based the design off of the exposed building material and visible pipes of Paris’s Centre Pompidou. In honor of the museum’s brutalist design, Hatfield placed the interior air component on the exterior of the sole, a dramatic departure from Nike’s traditional design to that point. Throughout the 1990s, the Air Max line became one of Nike’s best performing lines.
This drop is comprised of 5 pairs of Air Max sneakers: Air Max 1 x Parra “Albert Heijn”, Air Max 1 x Parra “Amsterdam”, Air Max 1 x Kidrobot “Kidrobot”, Air Max 1 x Atmos “Animal Pack”, and the Air Max 97 x MSCHF “Jesus Shoe”. The “Albert Heijn” and “Amsterdam” were both designed by Dutch artist Parra; the “Albert Heijn” pair, designed for a Dutch grocery store, was scrapped after the brand changed its marketing colors; only 24 pairs were released to family and friends. The “Amsterdam,” meanwhile, was only released to European markets in quantities in the low 100s. Nike partnered with toy and apparel designer Kidrobot to create the eponymous shoe, inspired by the 1986 Maserati Quattroporte III Royale. When prominent Japanese sneaker boutique Atmos pitched the “Animal Pack” shoe, Nike worried it would not sell due to its outlandish look, but instead, it rapidly became a grail. MSCHF’s “Jesus Shoe,” inspired by Jesus walking on water, is injected with 60cc of water directly from the river Jordan, in homage to Matthew 14:25.