story

"McEnroe was the first. If you saw McEnroe, the way he played on the court, how he was off the court, how he just carries himself, and he just took this shoe because he liked it, and it performed for him well".

"I'm Michael Packer, and I'm here to talk about the Nike Air Trainer 1. I literally was born into this business, and it was always just a family business. If your last name wasn't Packer, you weren't there. Back in '88, '89 … "

"I was towards the end of high school and working in the store. The Trainer 1 specifically, I remember it coming in. I remember the boxes. I remember where it went on the shelves, just because … "

"When I saw that shoe for the first time, it was the shape, it was the colours, it was the material. It was just everything about it. Back then Nike was using something … "

"It was called performance leather, and it was something that they used on the Trainer 1. They used it on the Air Force 2. Till this day, it's the best leather I've ever, ever seen on a shoe. It was comfortable, and it was great. It was buttery soft. It kept its colour".

"I remember back then, the innovation that they had for this. It's the Nike Bubble. Even though it wasn't exposed, it was the whole midsole. Even the strap on the bottom, nobody ever, ever did anything like that".

"With the materials they used on the original, there have been a bunch of other iterations of the shoe that have come out, but I think that the care and just having the shoe now, the care and the continuity that Nike put into this release … "

"To me, this is the closest that it's been to the original in 25 years, 30 years. Growing up and playing tennis … "

"In my mind, I'm a teenager, who doesn't want to look like John McEnroe? Who doesn't want to look like some of the guys who are playing in the tournaments? Lo and behold, 30 years later, I'm at an event. I'm at a Knicks game, and we're sitting there … "

"And two seats over is John McEnroe. I turned to him and I said, 'Look', I said, 'I'm sure you get a lot of people that say hello to you'. I said, 'I'm from New York. I'm a big fan. I don't know if anybody's ever asked you this, but … '"

"'I'm a big fan of the Trainer 1, and just why'? He sort of was taken aback. He's like, 'Nobody ever, at all the Knick games, has ever asked me about Trainer 1'".

"After halftime, that whole third quarter, we were talking about the shoe. The thing that he said, he was just like, 'I just liked the way it looked, and I tried it'".

"He said from the lateral strap to the comfort and everything else about it, he says nothing ever came close to that for him. Just McEnroe in general, McEnroe was the first. If you saw McEnroe, the way he played, the way … "

"On the court, how he was off the court, how he just carries himself, and he just took this shoe because he liked it, and it performed for him well. Obviously, everything is rooted in performance. Everything is rooted in sport".

"But those icons then move an iconic shoe to style. It's organic, and it's a perfect storm".

"When that happens, that's why we're at 35 years later. This was Behind the Design of the Nike Air Trainer 1. Thanks for watching".

Behind the Design: Air Trainer 1 'Chlorophyll'

Behind The Design

Air Trainer 1 'Chlorophyll'