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Nike Air Max 96: squeezed between two monuments

There’s a gap in the lineup everyone knows. The Air Max 95 caused a stir, the Air Max 97 arrived in silver and became a phenomenon, and between them stood the 96, which was already eclipsed the following year. It quickly faded from view back then, and it took about twenty years before Nike reissued it.

Unfairly so, because the construction is interesting. The air chamber in the heel is divided into separate compartments, visible as segments behind the window in the midsole wall. That idea came from the 95, but here it’s under an upper that speaks the opposite language: where the 95 is built up in horizontal layers, the 96’s panel lines run in curved waves up from the sole, with the swoosh small on the flank and the seams curled around it.

It is thus the link to what came a year later. Those flowing, continuous lines are exactly what the 97 continued with, only executed in metallic. The 96 did it first, in quieter materials, and was overshadowed by it.

Note one thing when viewing this page: there are also versions of the Air DT Max ’96 included. That’s a different shoe, a training model from the same year, which ends up here because of the name similarity. You can recognize it by DT in the title.

If you want to see the continuous air chamber in its earliest form, look at the Air Max 180. If you’re looking for the window specifically in the side, stick with the 95.

On this page you’ll see which versions of the Nike Air Max 96 are hottest right now according to the Hypescore, from which price they can be found and at how many shops they’re in stock.