How the Nike Air Max Zero came to be

Nike refers to it as the one before the one, that is the Air Max 1.

For Tinker Hatfield, it was but an idea of a revolutionary shoe 29 years ago that would reveal to the world what Nike Air really is. Though Nike had already introduced the Nike Air technology prior to that, Hatfield thought it wasn't enough and that the sensation of air underfoot had to be expanded.

It was in Paris where Hatfield found his inspiration, the Centre Pompidou. The building's unique inside-out design gave way to the concept of visible air, which would eventually make the Nike Air Max 1 an instant classic. But as in design, the finished product isn't always how it starts on paper. 

Hatfield wanted to focus on a shoe that featured only the necessities for supreme comfort and performance.

"I thought about sculpting the midsole to be more minimal, rising up where more support is needed and dropping back down where it isn't," Hatfield says.

The upper would have to be comfortable and form-fitting, with a tipless vamp much like the 1985 Nike Sock Racer. The sketch also featured an external heel strap that lacked a heel counter. Hatfield's design was simply ahead of its time.

And it sat for 29 years until the Nike Sportswear design stumbled upon it while searching for inspirations to celebrate the second annual Air Max Day. And now that technology has advanced by leaps and bounds, Hatfield's original idea for a sneaker that would have been the first to feature visible air has now come to life with the Nike Air Max Zero.

Working together with Graeme McMillan, the Nike designer tasked with bringing the Air Max Zero to life, Hatfield emphasized his design intent of achieving supreme comfort. McMillan then upped the ante by adding the latest Nike innovations such as the newly-introduced Air Max 1 Ultra outsole with its cored-out Phylon construction, fuse uppers that reduce bulk without sacrificing support, and monofilament yarn mesh that helps build the unusual tip that ensures breathability.

"I love it," Hatfield says. "It features modern materials and construction methods and I think that's the only way to do it. That was then, this is now. If you handed me the project, I would have chosen new materials similar to what the team has done here."

(Info and images courtesy of Nike.com)