AIR MAX DELUXE OG

Believe it or not, one of Nike’s most ambitious, futuristic shoes, the Air Max Deluxe, was inspired by the height of rave culture in Europe and the UK. It was the late ‘90s, and various teams were visiting England and Italy, where they observed reflective apparel full of wild prints, worn by ravers.

The design team set out to make a shoe that would embody this exuberance and build upon the bold running models that came just before it, the Air Max 97 and 98. The “Silver Bullet” 97 had been adopted by cool Italian youth, and the Air Max Plus was thriving across the UK and Europe. The Deluxe had the potential to shatter expectations further, and that’s exactly what it did.

“The Air Max Deluxe is representative of what Nike is and was, back when it released in 1999,” says Dominique Debnam, Nike Sportswear Product Line Manager. “It pushed the edges, it was in your face, and it was avant-garde.”

The “in your face” element of the Deluxe came through on the upper, since it shared the sleek, full-length Air bag of the 97 and 98. It was one of the first times a Nike shoe had all-over digital print on neoprene. Paired with increased reflectivity and rows of wide stitching, the shoe made a powerful statement. Designers also applied the same molding technique from the 1997 Air Foamposite to the back of the Deluxe, which gave it even more attitude.

The goal for the 2018 release of the Deluxe was to make it as OG as possible. “We had to break some of our model rules and go back to Nike’s old ways of doing things,” explains Debnam. “We focused on making the 2018 release one to one, stitch per stitch, to really give the consumer a piece of what ‘99 was like.”

Debnam and team made sure to maintain the reflectivity, molding, satin piping, and iridescent midsole of the original Deluxe. OG colorways will be the first to release, with seasonal and ‘90s-inspired colorways to follow.