Sneakers You Need to Know: Nike Air Force 1
By
By Stadium Goods |Sneakers You Need to Know: Nike Air Force 1
Everything you should know about one of the most important sneakers ever.
Matt DeSciora
Since January 25th, 1964, the day and year Nike opened for business as “Blue Ribbon Sports,” the brand specializing in athletic footwear and apparel has released a dizzying array of sneakers for nearly every sport imaginable. It has created shoes for hiking, weight lifting, walking, and even for poolside relaxing. But if you’re looking for Nike’s most iconic shoe, one that’s outlasted trends, endured through leaping advancements in sneaker technology, been adopted by different walks of life over multiple generations, and evolved into something far bigger than its original form, you’d be looking at the Air Force 1.
Created in 1982 by designer Bruce Kilgore, the Air Force 1 wasn’t Nike’s first basketball shoe, but it’s certainly its most recognizable. A year after launching the Air Force 1, Nike signed six basketball players: Moses Malone, Jamaal Wilkes, Mychal Thompson, Michael Cooper, Calvin Nutt, and Bobby Jones to endorse the Air Force 1 in the NBA. The “Original Six” brought attention to the shoe, but despite its popularity, Nike discontinued the Air Force 1 just two years after it was originally released. Rapid progression of sneaker technology in the 1980s rendered it antiquated in short order.
But that’s when the Air Force 1’s story really begins.
Facing demands from sneaker collectors and basketball fans to bring back the shoe, the Air Force 1 returned in 1985 in three new colorways at a Baltimore, Maryland sneaker shop. Within days, the store had sold through its allotment of stock, thus beginning the Air Force 1’s rise to prominence.
The shoe was also popular in New York City, where Air Force 1s picked up the nickname “Uptowns,” because that’s where you went to buy them: sneaker shops in Uptown Manhattan and Harlem.
By the 1990s, the Air Force 1 had fully transitioned from the basketball court to the streets when Nike reissued its most popular and wearable style, the timeless “White on White” colorway. For many collectors, the monochromatic white shoe was their gateway into the Air Force 1 universe. If you had the basics covered with the “White on White,” you could begin to explore the sneaker’s other colorways and remodels, which we’ll cover in more detail below.
This is everything you need to know about the Nike Air Force 1.
The Heights
The Air Force 1 was originally released as a high-top in 1982. It was converted into a low-top a year later. Its third and final silhouette, the Air Force 1 Mid, was released in the mid-1990s, strictly as a lifestyle sneaker.
The main difference between the low-top and the mid-top and high-top is height, obviously. But here’s the breakdown: the Air Force 1 Mid has a more slanted ankle collar than the Air Force 1 High. Further, the mid-top uses an ankle strap with a velcro fastening on the side. Let’s call it a 3/4 strap. The high-top’s ankle strap, in comparison, wraps completely around the ankle.
Something like 13,039 colorways (just a guess) of the Nike Air Force 1 have been released since ‘82, so we won’t be naming them all right now. But here’s a few you should definitely know.
The “White on White” colorway is the gold standard of Air Force 1s. That goes for all three models. The “Triple Black” style is equally as versatile.
One of the most popular new colorways in recent years that’s become a staple look for the Air Force 1 is the “Wheat” (or “Flax”) colorway inspired by classic work boots. Supreme even has its own version of the “Wheat” colorway.
The Collaborations
Sneaker collaborations took off in the early 2000s with Nike’s overseas “Concept Japan” initiative, but stateside, it was the small, niché sneaker boutiques creating colorways of Air Force 1s that made the shoe a commodity.
It was also the rappers who shouted the shoe out in songs. Some in turn received their own versions of the shoe, like Jay-Z’s “Roc-a-Fella Records” and Fat Joe’s “Terror Squad” colorways. Graffiti artist and renowned sneakerhead Mr. Cartoon collaborated with Nike on a few Air Force 1s in the mid-aughts. As did Vibe Magazine and even Sony PlayStation. Despite having his own signature shoe line with Nike, LeBron James had a few Air Force 1 Lows made in his honor, as well.
More recently, Supreme, Off-White, Kith, and Comme des Garçons have applied their aesthetics onto the Air Force 1.
The Rise of the Women’s Air Force 1
The Air Force 1’s influence and popularity contributed (mercifully) to the end of the “shrink-it-and-pink-it” era in women’s sneakers in the 2010s. Today, the Women's Air Force 1 is dished out in colorways that women actually want to wear, like the environmentally conscious Air Force 1 Low “Catechu,” the flashy Air Force 1 Low “Bling,” and boldly-styled Air Force 1 Shadow.
The Alternate Models
In the 2010s, Nike began releasing modified versions of the Air Force 1. Styles like the Air Force 1 Hyperfuse, SF-AF1, Air Force 1 Flyknit, and more recently, the Women’s Air Force 1 Shadow, Air Force 1 Crater Flyknit, and Air Force 1 Gore-Tex have all helped make the vintage basketball shoe a little more utilitarian for modern wear.
The Air Force 1: As Iconic as a Sneaker Gets
Long story short, the Nike Air Force 1 is one of the most significant sneakers of all time, right up there with greats like the Converse Chuck Taylor, adidas Superstar, and Air Jordan 1. Like all of those sneakers, it’s timeless, infinitely versatile, and just looks great. If ever there was a sneaker you need to know about, it’s the Air Force 1. If you didn’t already, now you do!