Sneaker News One of the first designs to emerge from Nike’s AirWorks initiative has officially surfaced. Shared by Motoi Hatsuki, founder of Tokyo’s Blue Room vintage store and one of eight creatives selected to participate in Nike’s inaugural AirWorks program, the previously unseen concept offers an early glimpse at the future of Air Max through the lens of 3D printing.
Produced in partnership with Zellerfeld, the futuristic design appears to draw inspiration from the Air Max Tailwind V, pairing a fully 3D-printed one-piece upper with sculpted heel and forefoot Air windows that echo the classic runner’s signature tooling.
The concept traces its roots back to May, when Nike invited designers from Beijing, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Shanghai, and Tokyo to its World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon for the first-ever AirWorks program. Working alongside Nike designers and engineers, each participant created an original 3D-printed footwear concept that reimagines the future of Air Max while drawing inspiration from their own communities. The initiative also gave participants access to Nike’s Air Manufacturing Innovation facility, the Department of Nike Archives, Blue Ribbon Studio, and other key pillars of the brand’s innovation ecosystem.
According to Nike, each AirWorks participant will receive a limited friends-and-family run of their creation, with individual launches taking place throughout the coming year leading into Air Max Day 2027. Whether Hatsuki’s concept remains an exclusive design study or eventually informs future Nike products remains to be seen, but its unveiling offers the clearest look yet at the experimental footwear born from the AirWorks program.
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