Which Nike designer created the Air Max 1 after visiting Paris’s Centre Pompidou?

Tinker Hatfield created the Air Max 1 after drawing inspiration from Paris’s Centre Pompidou.

Hatfield joined Nike as a designer in 1981 and initially worked on footwear and building projects. His visit to the Centre Pompidou in Paris influenced his approach to the Air Max 1 because the building displayed pipes, ducts, and structural systems on its exterior rather than hiding them inside.

That architectural idea helped Hatfield imagine a running shoe with a visible Air cushioning unit. The resulting Air Max 1 launched in 1987 and became one of Nike’s defining designs.

Hatfield later designed many influential Nike products, including several Air Jordan models. The Centre Pompidou connection is often repeated as a key example of how architecture shaped sneaker design, but the shoe’s performance purpose remained central: the visible window revealed Nike Air cushioning rather than serving only as decoration.