But it was the harnessing of air that would prove to be Nike’s most significant breakthrough and establish the company as an iconic brand. Aeronautical engineer M. Frank Rudy patented a cushioning system based on an inert gas encapsulated in polyurethane plastic, a process trademarked by Nike as the ‘Air’ sole. Despite Rudy’s unflagging enthusiasm for the potential of Air, it took nearly a decade for the technology to catch on. The breakthrough came when the company hit upon the watershed idea of creating tubes of air by specially welding sheets of polyurethane so that the seam could be hidden from view, allowing the consumer to actually ‘see’ the air in their shoes. Design legend Tinker Hatfield – inspired by the exoskeletal design of the Centre Pompidou in Paris – seized the idea and unleashed the Air Max 1 in 1987, beginning a definitive chapter in Nike’s history that has continued for more than twenty years. It was a godsend for road runners but, owing to its comfort and distinctive design, it soon exploded on the street scene in an endless array of colourways. The launch of the Air Max was bolstered by a bold and irreverent advertising campaign built around the then-unheard of practice of licensing The Beatles’ ‘Revolution’ for its television advertisements.
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one small seed