Nike's never one to shy from expanding its collaborative circle, even less so its family. In its years, its internal family has grown exponentially, delivering some of the most diverse, wide-spanning footwear offerings that the industry has ever seen, and at the heart of it all, is Air Max.
Air Max, Nike's flagship family, has driven the brand through the 90s and early 2000s, continuing to be a staple to this day. While its frontrunners in the Air Max 1, 90, 95, and 97 have put the leg work in over decades to keep the spirit of Air alive, the baton has been passed many a time as new silhouettes bubble to the surface.
The first real push toward a revolution in Air within contemporary space came with the arrival of the VaporMax. While it had its time, spawning many offspring, it somewhat fizzled out, allowing for the creation of something even bolder in the Scorpion.
Now that the Air Max Scorpion has found its legs, it's evolving. Its first evolution sees Nike tap into beloved Gorpcore trends, reworking the functionality of the silhouette with the addition of removable protective gaiters.
In recent times, we've seen these protective shrouds applied to several silhouettes, most notably ASAP Nast's NST2 Reebok Zig Kinetica 2.5 and upcoming boot styles from ROA Hiking's FW23 collection.
While the Swoosh has only spotlit a "Chrome" colorway of this adaptive style, should it prove it hit, it's extremely likely that more will be close behind, such as the story of the Air Jordan 1 Stash.
