About

Nike Air Max 97

The most famous story about the Air Max 97 is probably not true. The wavy lines were said to reference the Japanese bullet train, and the model has been known that way for years. Designer Christian Tresser has told a different story himself: he was looking at the ripples a drop makes in water. The train was added later, and the image was too good to get rid of.

No vertical panels anymore

What truly sets the 97 apart from its predecessors is visible in the construction. Every earlier model in the series is divided into panels: a toe piece, a mid panel, a heel piece. Here that was abandoned. The upper consists of horizontal bands that run uninterrupted from toe to heel, layered one on top of another. Between those bands is thin stitching that on most versions reflects slightly, and the swoosh has been reduced to a small mark low on the side, because a large logo would cut across the waves.

The laces hang in loops

The lacing is also subordinated to the wave pattern. Instead of punched eyelets through the upper, the laces run through fabric loops stitched between the bands, low on the instep. As a result the layered surface remains uninterrupted and the lacing almost disappears into the silhouette.

The window runs from toe to heel

Beneath the waves lies the other innovation: here the visible air window ran for the first time along the full length of the sole. Look through the window and you see small arrows, the material that holds the chamber in place, the same solution that on the Air Max 1 ten years earlier only supported the heel. The Air Max 95 two years earlier had already reached the forefoot; the 97 completed it.

The additions after the name

Under this term are versions that are actually different. The 97 Ultra is the lightweight rework with a simpler sole and a thinner upper, recognizable by the absence of most stitching layers. The Premium and QS are versions in richer materials or small runs on the regular base, and the 97 Plus is a hybrid that places the wavy upper on the sole of the Air Max Plus. Those looking for the original recognize it by the full layered construction together with the continuous window.

On this page you can see which versions of the Nike Air Max 97 are currently the hottest according to the Hypescore, from which price they can be found and at how many shops they are in stock.