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Nike Air cushioning on a hoops
« on: Aug 7th, 2018, 10:10pm » |
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In 1982, Nike released the Air Force 1, a basketball shoe that featured a revolutionary technological innovation: a pocket of air in the heel for cushioning and support. The shoe, although expensive at $89.Adidas Superstar Femme Fleur 95, was an immediate hit among players, from the N.B.A. to the playground, with professionals like Moses Malone and Michael Cooper Asics Gel Quantum 360 Damen endorsing them and wearing them during games.
Twenty-five years later, only Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace still wears the shoe in the N.B.A. But the Air Force 1, now priced at $80 for the basic white-on-white, is a far better seller than when it was introduced. Largely because of its popularity off the court, it has become the best-selling sneaker ever with more than 1,800 color combinations, many in limited editions that can cost thousands of Adidas Superstar Womens dollars.
Nike declined to release sales figures, but Powell estimated that about 12 million pairs of the Air Force 1 were sold at its peak in 2005, and 10 million to 11 million were sold last year.
The shoe was originally popular in the East, and Nike is giving loyalists in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York the chance to choose 1 of 25 of the most popular models to be re-released in those cities in the summer. Baltimore Nike Air Max 270 Donna voted last month, Adidas ZX Flux Damen and the Philadelphia balloting ends Wednesday.
That a 25-year-old sneaker was the best-selling athletic shoe last year reflects a change in an industry whose product is becoming valued more for its fashion relevance than for its performance.Few people buy Air Force 1s to wear on a basketball court, and many collectors keep several pairs in pristine condition to protect their value.Yet people are still unable to describe what has made the shoe so popular.
n the world of sneakers, few styles last. The ones that do are the true classics—the trends that graduate to staples. They’re consistently worn by both footwear enthusiasts and the general public. For Nike, the shoes that sell shareholder-pleasing units tend to be white leather shoes like the dad-friendly Air Monarch line—ones that cool kids and connoisseurs hate. Asics Gel Lyte 3 Mujer One rare example of such sneakers that cross over into both worlds Nike Internationalist Femme is the Nike Air Force 1 in its most popular, iconic style: low-cut, in all-white.
The white Air Force 1 Low is one of the bestselling shoes of all time. A decade ago, sporting-goods analyst Matt Powell told the New York Times that the shoe sold an estimated 12 million pairs in 2005 alone, more than two decades after its debut; the sneaker is still Nike’s second bestseller a decade later, according to Powell. The hyped-up collaborations and limited-run collectibles may have given the AF1 a covetable level of prestige and helped spread its gospel to new generations, but the monotone makeups, particularly the white-on-white, have been the ones keeping the lights on at most sneaker shops over the years.
On its 1982 introduction to the court, Nike designer Bruce Kilgore’s creation, initially only available as a high top, was striking for its hiking-boot-inspired cues and uniquely chunky sole—it was the first Nike Air cushioning on a hoops Nike Air Max Classic BW Femmeshoe. The neutral white and grey palette was one of the only parts of the shoe that played it safe. Inevitably, bolder, team-color Forces would follow—as would a low-cut, making the Air Force 1 an even more popular choice when it hit retail on a wider scale in 1983.
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