Nike introduced the Air Max sneaker in 1987. The Air Max 1 was the first shoe to use Nike’s Max Air technology, placing a visible pressurized-air cushioning unit in the heel and turning hidden footwear engineering into a design feature.
The idea behind Nike Air came from aerospace engineer M. Frank Rudy, who approached Nike in 1977 with gas-filled cushioning technology. Nike first used it in the Air Tailwind, released in 1978, but that shoe concealed the air unit. Designer Tinker Hatfield made the cushioning visible in the Air Max 1, reportedly drawing inspiration from the exposed structure of Paris’s Centre Pompidou.
A common mix-up is calling the Air Max the first Nike shoe with air cushioning. That distinction belongs to the Air Tailwind. The Air Max was the breakthrough for visible Air, and its launch campaign famously used the Beatles song “Revolution,” a first for a Beatles recording in a television commercial. The model is also known as the Air Max 87.