About

Nike Air

Air is Nike’s oldest promise and at the same time its broadest. In 1978 the brand put an air cushion into a midsole for the first time, based on a technique a former aerospace engineer had devised: gas-filled pockets that don’t collapse like foam but retain their shape. That idea proved so useful that it was spread across almost the entire range.

That’s why shoes that otherwise have nothing to do with each other fall under this name. There are hiking models, classic running silhouettes, collaborations and street shoes, with the only common thread being that there’s air in the sole. Anyone searching here would do well to first decide which branch they mean.

The main branches have their own page. The Nike Air Max made the air chamber visible in 1987 and grew into the brand’s largest family. The Nike Air Force brought the same technique to the basketball court and then to the street, and the Nike Zoom filled the cushions with tightly tensioned fibers for a flatter, faster variant.

The difference is in what you see. On the early models the unit is completely hidden in the foam and you only feel it; from the Air Max onward the window in the sole took on a role of its own, first as a small pane and later as a fully continuous chamber.

On this page you can see which Nike Air versions are hottest now according to the Hypescore, the starting prices and the number of shops that have them in stock.