Air Max Day Style

By Andile Phewa

Nike Air is not a shoe, it’s a revolution that sees bold colours, spirited designs and the evolution of iconic technology that has been finessed over the course of 30 years of innovation.

Celebrating the fourth annual Air Max Day at Turbine Hall in Newtown last Sunday, The Way of Us was privy to the best of Air Max, past and present, with OGs, icons, collabs, customisation and celebrity endorsement in the mix. 

While Nike Air technology was first introduced with 1979’s Air Tailwind, it took eight years to make the Air Max unit visible, which was placed along the entire sole to give athletes an edge. When adopted as a lifestyle product the sneaker quickly reached icon status, providing an edge to the sharpest streetwear looks. 

The Way of Us slipped into our trusty bubbles to photograph some of the people we saw stunting at Air Max Day.

Conway October

Check the fade, check the lean, check the fannypack and those boxy jeans. The Versace shades are nice, but what’s that on his wrist, a time machine? Dressing like a throwback to the heady times of conscious rappers like De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest, but with the type of bling sneakers mostly associated with ignorant rap, this outfit is a celebration of styles and influences and dude is absolutely killing it.

Gambino

Workwear meets normcore and then goes on an outing wearing Tiger Woods’ cap. We especially like what’s going on with the cuffs. The overboard turn up is the best way to show off as much of those creamy Air Force 1s as possible.

Maqoba Dlomo

Peep the sock game elevated to high art, where it’s not competing with his sneakers or fading into the background, but working as the perfect bridge between shoe and trouser. Beautiful boy indeed, splashing on his Air Max 96 Swimming Pool Pack with socks that are only to happy to split the lane. 

Max Wolf

We’re just going to zoom in on the cat in the middle here wearing two completely different pairs of Nike Air: That's Sergio Lozano’s Nike Air Max 95 and a pair of Air Max Plus Tuned Air. We don’t know how functional this look is, but it’s definitely a way to stand out when everyone else is stunting their dopest kicks on Air Max Day.

Wandile Zondo

If you asked someone from the 80s to imagine the future, then this is probably what they would’ve come up with. Spaceship lights bouncing off of militaristic styling and a pair of sneakers that look as if you’re literally floating on air. We were promised jetpacks, but aren't complaining when the 2017 Vapour Max are as sick as this. Aliens #KissMyAirs

Wanda Lephoto + Kabelo Kungwane

The Sartists' love of fashion is well-documented, and although their loyalties are with the brand with the three stripes, it’s cool to see Kabelo getting into the spirit of the day in his Zoom Spiridon.

Mo

We sometimes forget that the Air Max is a technical sneaker. Sure the technology is 30 years old, but there’s a reason why it’s stuck around for so long. We like how guy is rocking his Tech Knit fleece, marrying the latest with the greatest culminating in an outfit that takes his Air Max 1 customs into the now.