Remastering an icon while staying true to its origins, the Air Max 97 Ultra respects the past with modern day materials that reflect 20 years of design innovation. “In that pursuit of making things lighter, streamlined, or modernizing the manufacturing, what changes is a response to an improved function,” explains designer Aaron Street.

With original inspiration taken from nature’s most essential resource, the Air Max 97 Ultra’s design flows from the seamless, yet powerful motion of water. A nod to silver bullet trains inspires its beloved metallic finish and “conjures up imagery of the future and past,” explains Street. Welded reflective lines echo the pace of today’s modern metropolis, driving the 97 Ultra into the future.

Modernizing means building upon an identity without reliance on previous limitations. “We’re able to engineer and tune surfaces in a way that we weren’t able to in the past. Before it would be cut or sew different meshes or panels together,” Street clarifies. Now, a streamlined design features a one-piece, woven upper in jacquard, an ultra-soft collar, a retooled outsole and a fade that goes toe to heel, all paying homage to its legendary look.

Separating the 97 from all others is that the shoe has a unique appearance during the day and night, “giving people the freedom to bring it into their fashion sense, their styling, or however they’re putting their own outfits together,” Street explains. Radiating reflectivity has always been a defining characteristic of the 97. Two decades later, the 97 Ultra continues to stand out from the rest.