The Air Force is a range of

athletic shoe Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used fo ...

s made by

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

that began with the Air Force 1 and went on to include the Air Force 2, Air Force 3, Air Force STS, Air Force 5, Air Force XXV and Air Force 09. The Air Force 1 was created by designer Bruce Kilgore and was the first basketball shoe to use the Nike Air technology. The shoe is offered in low, mid and

high-top The high-top is a shoe that extends slightly over the wearer's ankle. It is commonly an athletic shoe, particularly for basketball. It is sometimes confused with the slightly shorter mid-top, which typically extends no higher than the wearer's a ...

styles.

Description

The shoes are sold in 5 different styles, low, mid, superlow, high and super high. The mid comes with a connected strap. The

Air Force 1s come with a

velcro Velcro, officially known as Velcro IP Holdings LLC and trading as Velcro Companies, is a British privately held company, founded by Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of hook-and-loop fasten ...

strap; the mid-top strap is secured to the shoe while the high-top's strap is movable and removable on some versions. Although the shoe comes in different colors and color schemes, the most common Air Force 1s sold are solid white (also referred to as "white on white"), the second most common being solid black ("black on black"). Another identifying characteristic of an Air Force 1 shoe is a small

medallion A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

secured to the bottom of the laces but with holes on both sides so it can be removed by sliding it off the shoe lace. The medallion is engraved with the inscription "AF-1", with the year "'82" inscribed beside it, and has historically been made out of a silver-colored metal (perhaps

pewter Pewter () is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin (85–99%), antimony (approximately 5–10%), copper (2%), bismuth, and sometimes silver. Copper and antimony (and in antiquity lead) act as hardeners, but lead may be used in lower grades of ...

). Its original design was more circular, but after a redesign the Air Force 1's 25th anniversary in 2007 the medallion is now rectangular. (The redesign also involved encasing the inscription in white plastic; that was discarded in favor of the original medallion material.)

History

Bruce Kilgore designed the shoe, which was never originally called the Air Force; the name is a reference to

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...

, the plane that carries the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

. Nike Air Force 1s were originally considered the favored shoe of inner-city youth, especially in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, New York, giving rise to the nickname "Uptowns". The Air Force 1 was produced in 1982 and discontinued in 1984. It was re-released in 1986 with the modern italic Nike logo with a "

Swoosh The Swoosh is the logo of American sportswear designer and retailer Nike. Today, it has become one of the most recognizable brand logos in the world, and the most valuable, having a worth of $26 billion alone. Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight fou ...

"revenue on the bottom on the back of the shoe. Little has changed to the Air Force One since its creation in 1982, although the stitching on the side panels of earlier versions is no longer present. Since its creation over 1,700 color variations have been produced, bringing in an estimated annual revenue of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

800 million. The selling of the Air Force Ones online by some retailers used to be prohibited by Nike, which restricted supply; the shoe may now be sold

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...

Performance use

As a performance shoe, the AF1 is still used for street play as well as for professional play. NBA players

Jerry Stackhouse Jerry Darnell Stackhouse (born November 5, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores men's team. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and ...

(who now wears Adidas) and

Rasheed Wallace Rasheed Abdul Wallace (born September 17, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. A native of Philadelphia, Wallace played college basketball at the University of North Carolina before declaring for the draft in 199 ...

have worn AF1s on court. The shoe is also used for fashion and casual wear.

In music

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Rapper

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

and his group, St. Lunatics, collaborated on a 2002 single titled " Air Force Ones" about the shoes. The shoe is also a focus of the 2007 single " Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)", a collaboration between

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim Allah or simply Rakim (), is an American rapper and record producer. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

and

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

, that was produced by

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop duo ...

. "Black Air Force 2's" are mentioned in the second line of the lyrics of the 2008 single "

Dope Boys "Dope Boys" is the second single from The Game's third studio album, ''LAX''. The song features Travis Barker playing the drums. The song samples "Eleanor Rigby" By The Beatles. The song was slated to appear in the 2008 driving game Midnight Club ...

", released from The Game's third studio album, ''

LAX Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

''.

Aftermarket sales

The Air Force One has become a favorite of sneaker collectors, often referred to as

sneakerhead Sneaker collecting is the acquisition and trading of sneakers as a hobby. It is often manifested by the use and collection of shoes made for particular sports, particularly basketball and skateboarding. A person involved in sneaker collecting is ...

s. Certain rare styles can cost several times their retail value.

Controversy

Nike has vigorously defended the Air Force 1 in U.S. courts. In one case, it sued an alleged infringer of its

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

in the Air Force 1, who responded by filing a

counterclaim In a court of law, a party's claim is a counterclaim if one party asserts claims in response to the claims of another. In other words, if a plaintiff initiates a lawsuit and a defendant responds to the lawsuit with claims of their own against th ...

to invalidate the Air Force 1 trademark. Several months later, apparently fearful that the defendant's counterclaim could succeed, Nike dismissed all its claims with prejudice and gave the defendant a "Covenant Not To Sue". The issue that went up on appeal was whether Nike's tactics had thereby rendered the entire dispute

moot Moot may refer to: * Mootness, in American law: a point where further proceedings have lost practical significance; whereas in British law: the issue remains debatable * Moot court, an activity in many law schools where participants take part in s ...

(meaning there was no longer an active

case or controversy The Supreme Court of the United States has interpreted the Case or Controversy Clause of Article III of the United States Constitution (found in Art. III, Section 2, Clause 1) as embodying two distinct limitations on exercise of judicial review: ...

), so that the

U.S. federal courts The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government. The U.S. federal judiciary consists primari ...

had been deprived of jurisdiction to hear the defendant's counterclaim. On January 9, 2013, the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

unanimously ruled in Nike's favor.

Later versions

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 2000s. 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 with almost any color used to fill in the Nike Swoosh and back heel. The Air Force 3 introduced in 1988 was the most popular version of Air Force series. It was worn by many basketball players at the time. The Air Force III was more rugged looking and more durable than the previous two versions. The original colorway was white/medium grey/black, however several other colors were introduced shortly after. An actual "Air FORCE" logo was introduced on this model as well, with an image of half of a basketball on the tongue. This logo would be used on the rest of the Air Force series. The Air Force III was re-issued in 2006 in a very limited edition of colorways of the high top, and several colorways for the low top version. The Air Force STS (also known as Air Force 4 or Air Force IV) was introduced in 1989. It may be a reference to the

Space Transportation System The Space Transportation System (STS), also known internally to NASA as the Integrated Program Plan (IPP), was a proposed system of reusable crewed space vehicles envisioned in 1969 to support extended operations beyond the Apollo program. ...

, the official name for the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

. It was regularly worn by

David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...

in his rookie year. The Air Force STS features Nike's elephant print and is also slightly higher than the first three versions of the Air Force series. The Air Force 5 was introduced in 1990. The Air Force V was the first model to make the airbag visible on the side heels of the shoe. The most popular colorway was white/medium grey/black/orange. Just like the previous version it was slightly higher than the first three versions. This was also the last original Air Force model to be made.

Retro versions

In 2007, for the 25th anniversary of the original Air Force 1, Nike created the Air Force XXV, which took inspiration from the original Air Force 1 invented in 1982. This version featured a mismatched set of medallions to commemorate its twenty fifth anniversary; one being from the original Air Force 1s with the other from the Air Force 25s. Since its introduction, many different Air Force 1 have been signed or inspired by celebrities and athletes. Also in 2007, to further commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Air Force One, two high-end makes of the shoe were introduced. They were hand-crafted in Italy, one from crocodile leather and the other from

anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large snakes of the genus '' Eunectes''. They are found in tropical South America. Four species are currently recognized. Description Although the name applies to a group of snakes, it is often used ...

leather, and both were adorned with

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

-tipped laces. They were sold in extremely limited quantities and had a

list price The list price, also known as the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or the recommended retail price (RRP), or the suggested retail price (SRP) of a product is the price at which its manufacturer notionally recommends that a retailer ...

of $2000, making them some of the most expensive sneakers ever to enter the marketplace. In 2009, Nike created Air Force 09, an update of the original shoe. The shoe comes in a solid black or white. In 2010, Nike commissioned

DJ Clark Kent Rodolfo Franklin Sr. (born September 28, 1967), known professionally as Clark Kent or DJ Clark Kent, is an American hip hop record producer, DJ and music executive of Panamanian descent. His crew of DJs is called "The Supermen", and his DJ moni ...

to design a Nike Air Force 1 Low pack of special limited edition Air Force 1 shoes. In 2017, Nike partnered with Don C, Kareem “Biggs” Burke, Errolson Hugh, Travis Scott and

Virgil Abloh Virgil Abloh (; September 30, 1980 – November 28, 2021) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. He was the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection beginning in 2018, and was given increased creative responsibilitie ...

for the 35th anniversary of the shoe. In 2020, Nike released Tear-Away Air Force 1. Its customizable “''Tear Away''” sneaker released by company. Tear Away AF-1 reveal, stays true to the signature style ''1982'' and upper linings. The colorful spectrum hidden inside the thin white layer of upper. Later on Nike released the option for AF-1 called
Custom Air Force 1
which allows buyer to design their own legacy by choosing premium leather or suede for any part of shoe, select the rubber traction type & finishing, and design each and every part of shoe to make a unique look by joining them together. Along with designing, Nike allows even to change the back logo. The wearer can replace the “Air” with any three characters even can choose different characters for left and right.

In film and television

From 2008 to 2014,

Jax Teller Jackson Nathaniel Jax Teller is a fictional character and the protagonist of the FX television series ''Sons of Anarchy'', portrayed by Charlie Hunnam. A member of the titular outlaw motorcycle club, he spends the series as the Vice President and ...

(played by

Charlie Hunnam Charles Matthew Hunnam (; born 10 April 1980) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Pete Dunham in ''Green Street Hooligans'' (2005) and as Jax Teller in the FX series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014). For the latter, he was ...

) wears his trademark white-on-white retro low-top Air Force 1s throughout

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club ope ...

, until they are discarded in the final episode of the series. In 2016, Quicksilver (played by actor

Evan Peters Evan Thomas Peters (born January 20, 1987) is an American actor. He is known for his multiple roles on the FX anthology series '' American Horror Story''; as Detective Colin Zabel in the HBO crime drama limited series '' Mare of Easttown'', w ...

) uses a custom silver-colored Air Force 1 in the movie '' X-Men: Apocalypse''.

References

External links

*
Customised Air Force 1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Air Force 1 (Shoe) Products introduced in 1982 Nike brands Sneaker culture 1980s fashion 1990s fashion 2000s fashion 2010s fashion 2020s fashion