Thirty-four years after its launch and 2,000 iterations later, the Air Force 1 — an iconic shoe with roots in basketball and legend status in street culture — remains one of Nike’s most recognizable silhouettes. As a foundational design, it also presents an opportunity to reimagine new visions of classics.
To usher the icon into the future, while taking its legacy, use and symbolism into consideration, Nike designers tasked themselves with marrying the original silhouette and Nike’s breathable, lightweight Flyknit material. But the application process wasn’t wholly intuitive.