Nike's Air Force Celebrates 25 Years At The Top

The New York Times, Monday, December 24, 2007 12 PM
  • Comment
  • Recommend
Subscribe to Around the Net In Brand Marketing

Tags

Nike released the Air Force 1 25 years ago. It contained a pocket of air in the heel, retailed for $89.95, and was hot on the playground as well as with pros. Now costing $80 for the basic white shoe, it is the best-selling athletic shoe ever. There have been more than 1,800 color combinations, many in limited editions that can cost thousands of dollars.

Nike declined to release sales figures, but Matt Powell, an analyst at SportsOneSource, estimates that about 12 million pairs of the Air Force 1 were sold at its peak in 2005, and 10 million to 11 million were sold last year. The shoe was originally popular in the East, and Nike is giving loyalists in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York the chance to choose 1 of 25 of the most popular models to be re-released in those cities in the summer.

The shoe is valued more for its fashion relevance than for its performance. "People want to analyze its death, but it's really just that it looks great on your foot," says Bobbito Garcia, a sneaker and hip-hop expert who wrote the book "Where'd You Get Those? New York City's Sneaker Culture: 1960-1987."

Read the whole story at The New York Times »
  • Comment
  • Recommend

Be the first to comment on "Nike's Air Force Celebrates 25 Years At The Top "

Leave a Comment

Sign in to leave a comment. Don't have an account? Join Now

Recent Around the Net In Brand Marketing Articles

>> Around the Net In Brand Marketing Archives