Why the Air Max is Nike’s Most Important Shoe

After winning a sneaker design contest at Nike, Tinker Hatfield began designing sneakers. Nike was still doing very well at the time, but was looking for their next big innovation to avoid becoming stale to consumers. While in Paris seeking inspiration for his next design, Hatfield drew inspiration from the Centre Georges Pompidou. It was a controversial building in Paris that had all the structural elements of the building on the exterior for the public to see. Hatfield decided to incorporate this same idea into his next sneaker by having the air bubble exposed. This design was very controversial within Nike and had to be fought for to be released. The Air Max 1 was released in 1987 and became a huge hit while helping Hatfield earn his credibility as a designer. <a href="https://ckedd.medium.com/why-the-air-max-is-nikes-most-important-shoe-141df433b69f">Read More</a>