Nike relies heavily on its retro product and often takes its classics models and reinterprets them for future use. There are some shoes in the Nike vault that many believe would go on untouched and retire as true originals, literally crumbling away into a pile of dust while standing tall in the minds of the brand’s historians and collectors. Nike’s air pump technology from the turn of the 90s was thought to be a thing permanently in the past – it’s an archaic and gimmicky technology that served no real purpose aside from allowing brands to flex its muscles in a rather stupid pose-down.
This rarely happens, but Nike actually managed to surprise us with a re-issue with the Air Command Force – a bulky, overwhelming sneaker from the early 1990s that featured an air pump module on the ankle of the shoe. The retro version did not feature a functional pump and most were unbothered by that fact, but the Air Pressure, the original air pump sneaker created to battle the much more successful and popular Reebok Pump, can’t live on without all systems a go. We’re learning today that Nike is bringing back the Air Pressure in its original form, complete with the plastic sling-bag packaging, on January 14th, and we’re not shy about admitting that our emotions are half excitement, half confusion.
Seeing how the Air Command Force, a widely beloved shoe and perhaps one of the best sneakers Nike has ever created, didn’t quite resonate with today’s generation (nobody under the age of 30 probably bought the shoe), will the Air Pressure face too much of its own pressure and see the same fate? How much will these cost (Nike later confirmed a $300 retail price)? Will a functional pump even be part of the release? All these questions remain unanswered, but what we do know is that the crop of untouched classics is slowly diminishing and tall tales of the past are nothing more than a few tweets.
Nike Air Pressure
Release Date: January 14th, 2016
Price: $300
