Air Force 1 (shoe)

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White on White Air Force I
White on White Air Force I

The Air Force 1 athletic shoe, is a product of Nike, Inc. [1] created by designer Bruce Kilgore. This was the first basketball shoe to use the Nike Air technology.[2]

The name is a reference to Air Force One, the plane that carries the President of the United States. The shoes are sold in three different types: the low, the mids, and the hightops and come in many different colorways, forms, textures, and patterns. The two most common forms of the Air Force 1's are the all white and all black pairs. The High-Top Air Force 1 is a variation of the shoe and comes with a non-removable strap and a higher top.

The Air Force 1 was produced in 1982 and discontinued the following year. It was re-released in 1986 with the modern italic Nike logo with a Swoosh on the bottom on the back of the shoe. Little has changed to the Air Force One since its creation in 1982, although the original stitching on the side panels is no longer present in modern versions of the shoe. Since then, over 1,700 color variations have been produced, bringing in an estimated 800 million USD/yr in revenue.[1][3] The selling of the Air Force Ones online by certain retailers is prohibited by Nike who has restricted supply of the sneaker.[4]

Nike Air Force 1s were originally considered the favored shoe of inner-city youth, then hip-hop artists like Snoop Dogg, The Game, 2pac and streetball players. Rappers Nelly & The St. Lunatics collaborated on a 2002 single entitled Air Force Ones about the shoes. As a performance shoe, the AF1 is still used for street play as well as for professional play. NBA players Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse have used AF1s for games before.

The "Air Force 2" shoe introduced in 1987 is a newer variation of the original. The shoe is a typical flat soled, casual-wear sneaker that can be made in many different variations of colors. Also, Air Force 2s were re-released internationally in the early 2000's. They can be made in either the low-cut or high-top style. The shoe can be custom made in any color, but typically it has either a white or black based background color with almost any color used to fill in the Nike Swoosh and back heel.

In 2007, for the 25th anniversary of the original Air Force 1, Nike created the Air Force XXV, which got its inspiration from original Air Force 1 invented in 1982. Since its introduction, many different Air Force 1s have been designed or inspired by celebrities and athletes. This list includes Jay-Z, LeBron James, Rasheed Wallace, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and numerous others.


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Mark de la Vina. "On 25th Anniversary, Nike Cranks Up The Noise About Air Force Shoes", The Mercury News, February 10, 2007. 
  2. ^ Derick Chetty. "Nike takes shot at pop-up concept", Toronto Star, February 17, 2007. 
  3. ^ Elizabeth Wellington. "Nike's Air Force 1s Are Still Flying High", The Ledger, February 22, 2007. 
  4. ^ Stanley Holmes. "All The Rage Since Reagan", Business Week, July 25, 2005. 

[edit] External links