Nike’s Air Works Program Gathers Designers From Around the World to Co-Create the Future of Air Max
We all know it. We all love it. And at some point, we’ve all had it: the Nike Air Max. The shoe everyone knows. A silhouette that’s been part of growing up. From school hallways to city streets, marking the first outfits you were proud of. More than just a sneaker, it became part of the culture. Somewhere between heritage and future, Nike is opening their doors. What happens when you hand one of the most iconic sneaker silhouettes to a new generation of creatives?
Pictures by Nike
With Air Works, Nike introduces a new research, development and design program that feels less like a traditional initiative and more like a creative reset. A global platform that brings together emerging designers from across the world to rethink the future of Air Max, not as a trend, but as a cultural expression. Eight cities. Eight designers. Eight distinct visions of what Air Max could become.
The first Air Works program brings together creatives from Beijing, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo. Different time zones, different references, different realities, all meeting at Nike’s Philip H. Knight Campus in Beaverton, Oregon this May. From May 11 to May 14, these designers will work closely with Nike mentors, designers and engineers. The people who make Nike what it really is: Iconic. Their goal? A collaboration focused on cultural perspective as much as design. It’s about translating lived experiences into design, letting each participant bring their own community into the process. Because Air Works prioritizes individual and local perspectives over one single global design.
Air Max, Reimagined in 3D
At the center of the program: 3D-printed Air Max silhouettes, developed in partnership with Zellerfeld. Each design is meant to reflect the individuality of its creator, a unique interpretation of Air Max, shaped not just visually, but culturally. Rather than revisiting the archive, Air Works positions heritage as a foundation for something new.
As Andy Caine, VP and Creative Director of Nike Sportswear, explains, the program is designed to bring global creative perspectives together, combining outside perspectives with Nike’s internal tools, archives and expertise. Participants will gain access to key parts of Nike’s design and innovation infrastructure, including the Department of Nike Archives, the Nike Sport Research Lab, the Air Manufacturing Innovation facility, the Blue Ribbon Studio, and the Bowerman Footwear Lab. Air Works offers access to the full spectrum of Nike’s design ecosystem. This hands-on approach allows designers to move beyond concept and directly engage with the technologies and processes behind Air.
From Global Platform to Local Release
But what happens after the program? That’s where it gets really interesting. Each designer will release a limited friends-and-family version of their shoe within their own community. Air Works focuses on localized storytelling. Just local moments, unfolding organically over time. These releases will take place over the coming year, leading into Air Max Day 2027. Air Works signals something subtle but important. A move away from designing for culture, toward designing with it. Instead of asking how Air Max can stay relevant, Nike is asking who gets to define relevance in the first place. And the answer, right now, looks global.
Diverse.
Hyper-local at the same time.
Less about one future.
But many.
Eight designers. Eight cities. Eight interpretations of Air Max.
That’s what is really defines Air Max today.
UPDATE JUNE 2ND: Air Works: How Nike is Creating A Global Creative Platform To Co-Create The Future of Air Max
So now, Air Works is officially moving beyond the walls of Nike HQ.
Eight designers from all over the world flew to Beaverton. Spent four days inside Nike's world, the archives, the labs, the people who actually make the things. Brought their cities with them. Left with a carefully co-created shoe design each. And now they're dropping… kind of.
After bringing together eight emerging designers from cities like Beijing, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo, Nike just announced how the project will continue: through a series of ultra-limited friends-and-family releases rolling out one by one monthly, leading into Air Max Day 2027.
And honestly, the rollout itself reflects exactly this creative spirit that the Air Works project stands for. Instead of turning Air Works into one giant commercial sneaker moment, Nike is letting every designer launch their pair locally, within the communities that shaped them in the first place. Tokyo’s Motoi Hatsuki kicks things off in July, followed by London-based Tasnim in August, Beijing’s Marc Su in September, Los Angeles creative Masyn in October, Mumbai’s Diya Joukani in November and Shanghai-based Jose Wong in December. The rollout then continues into 2027 with Paris designer Yams in January and New York City’s Omi closing out the project in February, leading directly into Air Max Day 2027.
Pictures by Nike
It feels less like a traditional sneaker rollout and more like watching chapters unfold in real time, each city getting its own moment before the rest of the world catches up. Honestly? That's the part that gets us. Different aesthetics, different communities, different energies. Unfolding across eight thoughtfully timed releases, the rollout gives each designer and their creative identity its own spotlight. Rooted in local culture yet connected by a shared vision, every launch adds a new chapter to the story, creating anticipation and relevance throughout the season. Air Works moves intentionally, almost like a traveling conversation between creative scenes around the world.
And maybe that’s what makes the project feel refreshing. The shoes don’t arrive as finished “products” first, they arrive as extensions of the people and places behind them. We can already imagine each pair making its unique debut through the family and friends of each designer, finding its audience through the communities and cultural worlds that helped shaped it.
The story starts within the community itself, and only afterwards becomes part of the larger Air Max narrative. Nike also confirmed that the fully 3D-printed Air Max 1000, developed together with Zellerfeld, will become available through Nike By You later this year, opening the door for an even more personalized future of Air Max.
And that’s probably the most interesting part of all this: Air Works never really felt like Nike handing creatives a pre-existing silhouette to remix. It feels like Nike building an infrastructure around a new generation of designers and asking them to express what Air Max could become next.
No retro bait. No nostalgia overload. Just a brand inviting individuals into their creative process and letting global communities shape the future themselves.
Eight cities. Eight shoes. Eight reasons the next era of Air Max feels different from
anything that came before it.
by Noémi Zak