While you could argue each member of Nike 's entire Air Max dynasty is somewhat as iconic as the other, few hold such a special place in the heart of many as the Air Max Plus . Approaching its 25th anniversary, the Air Max Plus has seen hundreds of iterations over the years and, even to this day, steadily continues to cement itself as nothing short of an icon.
It all started back in 1997 when Sean McDowell unknowingly started designing the shoe prior to his tenure at Nike. Sketching on a beach, McDowell took note of the gradient of the sky as the sunset and how the palm trees blew in the wind. Triggering something in his brain, Sean imagined how these palm tree shapes could hold and lock one's foot into place, quickly filing the idea away for future use.
Upon landing at Nike several months later, McDowell was given the tall task of creating a new running shoe only to be sold at Foot Locker . The shoe had to use Nike's new Max Air technology, and prior to Sean's involvement, over 15 sketches had received a firm "no" from the parties involved. However, little did Nike know that Sean had a trick up his sleeve.
Bearing the working name of the "Sky Air," McDowell's thoughts immediately turned back to that fateful beach evening. Immediately, he began sketching a number of designs with gradient-coloured uppers, similar to the sky of that night. Continuing with the beach theme, he designed the shoe's shank to appear like a whale's tail emerging from the water.
After presenting the design to the Foot Locker team, it was said they were so impressed that they immediately took the design on board, quickly thrusting the Air Max Plus into production. There was one caveat, however. The brands requested that more focus be placed on the Tuned Air technology inside, leaving McDowell somewhat baffled about where to place the yellow, blue and red hexagonal logo he was presented with.
By late 1998, the shoe was ready to hit the shelves, with a TN Air Logo sitting firmly at the heel of each pair. Little did Sean or Nike know that this new logo would coin the shoe a new street-level moniker in overseas territories. Both Great Britain and Australia quickly embraced both the "Tn" silhouette and its alias, cementing the Air Max Plus as an emblematic symbol of youth culture.
Now, as the shoe looks to celebrate its 25th anniversary on the 9th of November, Nike and Foot Locker have come together once more to release an exclusive iteration of the icon. Dubbed the Nike TN Air Max Plus "25th Anniversary," this model arrives with a unique design informed entirely by its global “TN Community.” Taking to social media, the "TN Community" voted on their favourite four colourways from the TN's lifespan, with the top four choices used in unison to create this colourway.
Sporting a black midsole and webbed overlay, the "25th Anniversary" borrows tints from the "Sanguine," "Fireberry," " Hyper Blue " and " Palm " renditions to make up its upper. The shoe will land this Thursday, the 9th of November, at both Nike and Foot Locker . For TN heads looking to get their hands on a pair, make sure to set a release reminder below because this one will no doubt prove popular among the community.
Up next, official images of the A Ma Maniére x Air Jordan 5 surface .
