Nike Air Works has revealed its fourth 3D printed Air Max, a black slip-on from LA creative Masyn with a glowing red Air unit and stars across the toe.
The Air Works design program launched in March. Last spring Nike brought eight young designers from eight cities to its Beaverton campus to dig through 40 years of Air history and create new Air Max shapes with 3D printing, working with Nike mentors and the printing specialist Zellerfeld. The results are now arriving about once a month. Motoi Hatsuki opened the series in Tokyo in July. Tasnim Chowdhury followed in London in August with a monochrome yellow shoe built around a flowing upper, and Marc Su brought a space-age stacked sole and sleek triple-white upper to Beijing in September.
Masyn went the other way with a pared-back pair that uses very little material. The starting point was a scuba suit, and the result is a black slip-on with a one-piece upper. Stars are embossed into the toebox, and a red Air unit glows from the heel. A small Swoosh sits on the lateral side, and Air Works branding is embossed on the outsole. The stars that run through the design nod to the billboards in his hometown. “I’d be lost without the stars in my life, and this opportunity is a chance to show them how much they mean to me,” Masyn said.
Holding the finished pair was just as personal. “Seeing my final design for the first time was truly an incredible experience. I’ve held and admired thousands of shoes before but never a shoe that I created. It’s been my lifelong dream to collaborate with Nike and being able to do so in this fashion felt unbelievable,” he added.
Do not expect to find the slip-on in stores. None of the Air Works shoes are headed for retail. Nike is making only a small batch of each silhouette, and those pairs go to the designers’ friends and family. Masyn’s friends and family event takes place this week at Nova Studios in LA, and there is no public price or release date.
The complete collection of eight pairs is set to be shown together for Air Max Day 2027.
Four designs are still to come. Jose Wong of Shanghai is up in December, followed by Yams of Paris in January 2027, Omi of New York City in February and Diya Joukani of Mumbai in March, right in time for Air Max Day.
Source: Sole Retriever, Oneness
