story

"My name is Kyle Quan. I'm a Senior Product Line Manager in Nike Sportswear Footwear. And I'm Chris Munar, and I'm a Footwear Material Designer for Nike Sportswear. The Air Force 1 is married to the game. So it was really hand-in-hand that we represented..."

"...the birth of hip hop along with the 40th Anniversary of the Air Force 1. My name is Grand Wizzard Theodore, Creator of the Scratch and the Needle Drop, and I'm from the Boogie Down Bronx. What the Air Force 1 means to the Bronx and what..."

"...it means to me? Lifestyle, man. My name is Kwikstep. First case, Full Circle Souljahs. We are always identifiable, looking fresh, crispy and clean Air Force 1s are exactly that. I'm known as B-Girl Rokafella. I'm New York City..."

"...Native, love to dance. Got a bunch of styles under my belt. But the one that really grounds me is breaking. The Air Force 1 was just right there in-tune, in-step with the community. And that means a lot. It's the birth of the Air Force 1 in 1982 and the birth..."

"...of hip hop in 1973. Now you're walking in lineage. And hip hop was becoming the way. It was just the way to express yourself and to stand out. The metal eyelets are very reminiscent to that time period, and then the branding that we decided to use on the heel."

"Again, wanting the text to really read from that time era and then embedding it in in the back of the heel, really leaving its stamp and its mark just like hip hop did in the world. We went with a nice premium white, tumbled leather, and then on the Swoosh we have this like rigid texture..."

"...which is very reminiscent and a nod to the ridges of a vinyl record. We're highlighting some gold accessorized areas here, like on the dubrae nod back to the jewelry and accessories of that era. It looks like the name belt style. So we used to wear..."

"...name belts. So you always were identifying yourself. We had found a quote in the Hip-Hop Museum that said, "The fatter the laces, the cooler you are." The shoe laces that I have on these are like really, really fat shoe laces. The gold piece in the front, you know, it tells a story. These are custom graphics..."

"...that are specific for this story to celebrate the Bronx. You can wear it with anything. So something that's super versatile that can be worn on any occasion. It looks nice with a pair of jeans. It looks nice with a pair of sweatpants. We wanted it to be inclusive."

"We have adult sizing and kid sizing. This is the first chapter. We want to celebrate those who helped make it iconic. We're passing it down from generation to generation because time changes, people change. So I think they're keeping up with the time. And we get ready to celebrate..."

"50 years of hip hop. And I feel that Nike is right up there celebrating with us."

Behind the Design: Air Force 1 'Bronx Origins'