Nike's Air Max Scorpion is the latest in a long line of technically innovative lifestyle shoes issued by The Swoosh, but it's got one big caveat: the Air Max Scorpion is one of the first Nike shoes entirely designed, from start to finish, during the lockdowns initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite these intimate origins, the Air Max Scorpion is one of the more ambitious sneakers to come from Nike in the past year or so.
Designers and developers used advanced techniques like 3D VR software, machine learning, and "computational design," as Nike puts it, to finish the Air Max Scorpion in a swift 18-month turnaround, which is markedly shorter than the multiple years it often takes for a juggernaut like Nike to formulate new technology, molds, and Flyknit applications.
The sportswear giant also cites the importance of Air Manufacturing Innovation, a term used to describe decades of hands-on Air development. When you think about how far Nike Air has come from, say, the early days of the Air Max 1, the Air Max Scorpion stands that much taller.
And that's to say nothing of its already imposing height! Nike purports that the Air Max Scorpion boasts the most Air of anything in its footwear lineup to date and, looking at those stacked Air units that comprise the sole, I'd have to say that I take them at their word.
What results is a sneaker that challenges the all-day comfort of rival sportswear companies' walking sneakers, aligning with the emerging trend of borderline orthopedic shoes becoming part of the fashion ecosystem, picking right up where experimental
First seen earlier this year through the social media posts of ambitious sneaker leakers, the Air Max Scorpion is finally heading to store shelves and Nike SNKRS on October 5.
Expect future drops to include ample new colorways and revisions of the beefy silhouette as Nike continues finetuning its new workhorse.
