story

"Hi, what's up? My name is Matt Williams. Welcome to the Department of Nike Archives, where we have over half a million artifacts in storage for Nike history and heritage storytelling."

"Including 4,800 shoes in the Air Max Franchise.
A lot of that history and experimentation has led us to this moment. Here's eight things that you didn't know about..."

"The Air Max Dn8. The early developments of what we now know as the Dn8."

"Prototypes had three air tubes in the forefoot and four air tubes in the heel. The shoe could have been called the Dn7."

"In order to get the perfect pressure for each area unit, the design team connected prototypes to a portable, battery powered air pump. That way they could change pressures on the fly and the forefoot."

"To make sure you get the right pressure for the right fit. And the result of all that experimentation: The Dn8 is the first multi-pressure four foot airbag to date."

"Along the way, designers created more than 400 design concepts before landing on the final product design that you see here."

"For those of you that's done their Air Max homework, you'll see that the Dn8 does have some similarities to the Air Max 96, but that wasn't the intent. These slashes were designed to draw attention to these airbags."

"Tubular Air actually has a long history in Nike. In 1987, the same year the Air Max 1 was released, Nike was playing around with a concept called 'string of pearls'".

"In 2001, the Air Max was released with tubes, but the Dn8 actually represents the first full-length execution of Tubular air."

"And you see these eight dots? These eight dots signify the eight air tubes that are in the Dn8 and they're always red."

"The logo on the back of the Dn8 might look familiar to Air Max Aficionados. It's a nod to the Air Max Plus, which kicked off 'Tuned Air' and started the 'Tuned Air' Family, which the Dn8 is proudly part of."

"This is Matt. And I'm Robbie. Matt and Robbie signing off from DNA."

Air Max Dn8

8 Things