NIKE AIR MAX 1 '86 OG "BIG BUBBLE"

Discover the holy grail of sneaker lore, an OG release to celebrate 'AIR MAX DAY'. The main feature of these is the 'Big Bubble' an elongated Air window along the outsole, reminiscent of the Original. The colourway is crafted for the summer with the university red overlays and crisp white mesh.

Every idea has an original story...

Hiding in the shadows of one of Nike's biggest stories (that of revealing Nike Air to the world) is the fact that for the first few months of its release, the Air Max 1 featured a noticeably bigger window. So, like, why did the window shrink? With a launch date in place and manufacturing already started, Nike engineers (to their dismay) discovered that an exposed Air unit had a tendency to crack in cold temperatures. Adjusting on the fly, engineers quietly "shrunk the window both in length and height" and began using a new Air unit to prevent the great cracking catastrophe.

Released on 26 March 1987, the ultra-rare Air Max 'Big Bubble' hit the shelves and thankfully didn't burst (probably because of the rising spring temps). After the initial run, the Air Max 1 as we know it secretly replaced the original, taking hold as the leader of the Air Max pack. And the 'Big Bubble?' It faded away—until now. Welcome to the beginning.

"When you're trying to be the first, you just learn along the way. I think that you just have to have an attitude of perfection, you know you're not going to get there, but you want to get there". Tinker Hatfield