What was the model name of the first shoe designed by Tinker Hatfield for Nike?

The first shoe designed by Tinker Hatfield for Nike was the Nike Air Max 1.

Hatfield joined Nike in 1981, initially working as an architect on retail spaces and stores. He moved into footwear design in the mid-1980s, bringing an architect’s interest in structure, form and exposed components to sneaker construction. His breakthrough design was the Air Max 1, released in 1987.

The shoe’s defining innovation was its visible Air unit in the heel. Nike had already used pressurized-air cushioning internally, beginning with the Air Tailwind, but the Air Max 1 made the technology visible through a window in the midsole. Hatfield drew inspiration from the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, whose exposed pipes and structural elements suggested that functional components could also become visual features.

A common mix-up is confusing Hatfield’s first major Nike design with the Air Jordan III. The Jordan III was hugely important because Hatfield helped establish the modern Air Jordan design language, but it followed the Air Max 1. The Air Max 1 is also sometimes called the Air Max ’87 because of its release year.