The Air Max 95 is gearing up for a big period ahead, with a flurry of Fall releases set to flow your way. Joining the likes of the “Day of the Dead” and the recently-revealed “Batman” renditions of the silhouette comes this Adidas ZX 750 Dames back-to-basics tonal Navy colorway.
Arriving with all-over navy hues across its mesh and nubuck upper, the sole hit of contrast arrives thanks to bold red branding hits on the tongue, Jewel Swoosh, and insoles, with matching red Air supports underfoot. Sole units are painted blue, as are the liners, laces and even the 3M reflective panels at the tongue and heel.
The Nike by You customization platform Nike Air Max 720 Donna took to new levels this week, introducing 37 new collaborative shoes through a joint program with We Are Cultivator. I spoke with a participant of the project, Jenni Riccetti, about her “On the Clouds” Air Max 95.
Nike by You’s latest collaborative release brings a wide mix of creatives to the table. Teaming up with Cultivator, the two released a total of 37 different sneakers from different designers, each telling their own Adidas Stan Smith Femme story. To learn more, I had a chat with my local representative in the project, San Francisco-based fashion designer Jenni Riccetti. She told us about some of her favorite Nikes, the inspiration behind her Air Max 95 “On the Clouds”, and the role sneakers have had in her life.
It’s been 20 years since Nike first debuted the classic Air Max 95, which marked a big shift in the performance running sneaker Adidas Gazelle Womens market at the time. With its distinct rippled design across its upper, gradient gray color scheme, and bright neon yellow accents, the original model was a bold, provocative silhouette that had not been preceded by any sneaker before its time. Nike brought on board Nike ACG designer Sergio Lozano to spearhead the project, a trained industrial designer whose four-year experience with tennis and training shoes would bring a fresh Nike Internationalist Femme perspective to the Air Max family.
In the mid 1990s a shoe arrived that, despite the family name, bore little resemblance to its father. The Air Max 95 had been stripped down to the sole and built up again from scratch, for a shoe that looked so aggressive you’d be nervous of inviting it round for Christmas.
This iteration was the first to feature the dual air bubbles at the forefoot, alongside the Adidas ZX 750 Femme trademark heel bubble. Design wise, it was inspired by the human body, although that’s not obvious on first view; the midsole acts as the spine, eyelets were ribs and the mesh uppers represented layers of muscles and flesh.
The classic colourway featured bright flouro yellow accents – emanating from inside the air bubbles, the shoe appeared to glow from within. Nike re-released its OG colourway last year Nike Air Max 97 Femme (below), but that also disappeared Adidas ZX Flux Womens quick.
With a canny eye, you can get pretty close to the OG with the NIKEiD customiser tool. If you decide to take a highlighter to the swoosh and lace loops, we won’t judge.