Matt Varga After receiving little-to-no news on what the Swoosh had planned for its 30th anniversary, the Nike Air Max 95 emerged in full force in 2025, now among the more inescapable presences in Beaverton’s catalog. Any simple arithmetic will reveal that the Air Max 97 is the next icon in the product line to start making party plans, but perhaps the sportswear giant will be a bit more premeditated in its festivities this time around.
Indeed, as Paris Fashion Week S/S 2027 begins, a wave of new Nike product in the works for the next 12 months is being revealed. Of several notable debuts, including the Foamdome Low and square toe Air Force 1s, the Nike Air Max 97 makes a surprise appearance, with new tooling to boot. Given that the brand has never diverged from the AM97 cushioning setup, Beaverton can’t simply revive “Big Bubble” cushioning for the sneaker’s 30th anniversary and call it a day.
Instead, they’re looking to a laceless build to create energy. Here, revealed in three colorways, a silver/blue, a neon green/gold, and an all-black, the upper also gets modified to fit this new securing system, creating concentric circles that cut from the quarter to the toe. Pair that with shimmering finishes throughout, and you’ve got a shoe befitting of the PFW venue, a potential star of Nike’s next-year slate. Note that though in the early aughts Nike experimented with a similar laceless build, the new overlay pattern and puffier tongue set these apart from those turn-of-the-century designs.
The Nike Air Max 97 Laceless should be releasing sometime in ’27, though retail pricing and an exact launch window are unclear. For now, peruse in-hand shots below. Trust that we’ll keep you in the loop as any launch info becomes clearer, via this article or our Sneaker Release Dates hub.
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- Nike Air Max 97 Laceless @undiscovered.ig
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- Nike Air Max 97 Laceless @undiscovered.ig
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- Nike Air Max 97 Laceless @undiscovered.ig
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- Nike Air Max 97 Laceless @undiscovered.ig
