Nike's new Air Max 360 fulfills dream: running on air

New manufacturing techniques and design eliminate foam from heel to toe

HELEN JUNG
The Oregonian

Nineteen years ago, Nike was trailing as the No. 2 shoe maker behind Reebok International Ltd. Its Nike Air technology, which partially replaced foam cushioning with air pockets, was finding limited success. Retailers were skeptical about the company's newest gamble: the Air Max running shoe with visible air cushioning in the heel.

Now, comfortably in the No. 1 spot, Nike is launching the eighth incarnation of the sneaker that not only helped catapult Nike back into the lead, but also ushered in a consumer mentality of buying sneakers for show, not just for wear.

But for the first time, the new Air Max 360 lives up to the original idea of a shoe that lets athletes run on air. Thanks to new manufacturing techniques and cutting-edge design, the shoe, cushioned heel to toe with air pockets, eliminates all foam from the midsole.

The sneaker will be available Jan. 21 at a suggested retail price of $160, although both retailers and analysts said initial shipments likely won't meet demand. Nike said it plans to ship more pairs in time for fall, said Tom Hartge, Nike's creative director for advanced initiatives.

While Nike remains the dominant running shoe brand, the new Air Max comes as the company's market share in the category has held flat and customers have craved something new, industry analysts and retailers said.

"They needed to have a real hero shoe for the mall," said Matt Powell, contributing editor for industry publication Sports Executive Weekly. Although sneakers with Nike's Shox cushioning system have been popular, the latest model, more than 2 years old, is nearing the end of its fashion cycle, he said.

The Air Max 360, however, is "very compelling cosmetically."

"You can see the technology from across the room," he said. "They need something that's going to create some hype out there."

Hype there will be.

Nike has prepared TV commercials and print ads to coincide with the launch. In addition, retailers such as The Finish Line are planning in-store promotions, including large air mats simulating the Air Max cushioning for people to walk on and displays showing the evolution of Air. About 300 stores will have a Nike Air greeter to show off the new Air Max, said Tim Geis, senior vice president/general merchandise manager for The Finish Line, an athletic footwear store.

"It just creates more of an ooh-ahh reaction from people," he said of the air mat that stores will lay out. "People will be falling over themselves to get to the shoe."

The sneakers are among the most expensive sports shoe The Finish Line is offering, he said. But the chain has high expectations for the Air Max -- and thinks it could be a top revenue product, depending on how many Nike makes available, he said.

"The industry has not had anything revolutionary on a grand scale in some time," said Geis.

The Air Max 360, Nike's Hartge said, finally achieves what designers envisioned when they first embraced an idea offered by Rudy Frank, an aerospace engineer who invented the air cushioning that Nike adopted. Designers imagined an all-air, no-foam midsole based on the concept that air would provide lighter, more durable cushioning than foam.

It started with Tailwind
But it's been a long evolution from modest beginnings. The air pockets debuted in the 1979 Tailwind sneakers -- many of which blew out. The company fixed manufacturing problems and featured the technology in its popular Air Pegasus running sneakers.

Then in 1987, the company was struggling as it cast for ways to catch up to Reebok, which was riding high on the aerobics craze. Nike gambled on its Air Max running shoe. Its most notable feature was the window cut into the sole, showing the clear air pocket cushion inside.

At first, smaller specialty running retailers thought the Air Max was gimmicky, Hartge said. The larger retailers didn't like its coloring, which featured a red band around the shoe.

Customers, however, loved it, drawn in partly by a controversial commercial that heralded the new technology to the sounds of the not adequately licensed Beatles song "Revolution."

The popularity also was driven by its visible technology, a feature that has become a selling point throughout footwear and other products, said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for market research firm NPD Group.

"It's one of the most successful technological advances in footwear and almost in all of fashion," said Cohen. "The fact that you could see it and feel the difference was what made it work."

Nike Air also marked "a major change in the way in which consumers perceived footwear," he said. "It used to be that consumers would buy a new pair of shoes when they wore out. Now, they're buying more than just one pair because of the technological advancement."

Getting rid of the foam
Sales of the Air Max, as well as the broadening of Nike Air into other sports, helped propel Nike back to the No. 1 position in the industry.

Still, getting from a visible air pocket in the heel to eliminating the foam in the midsole has been a challenge.

Each new Air Max version got closer to the original vision. Designers inserted larger air bags in one version. They added air bags to the forefoot in another. In 1997, they installed full-length air bags, which still incorporated some foam.

It was not until now that researchers have been able to eliminate foam completely from the midsole. Through a new way of manufacturing the cushioning, called thermoforming, designers can better manipulate the air bag so that it is pinned down in some spots and allowed to bulge in others, providing the structured cushioning that used to come from foam.

Nike found out about the new process in part because it was trying to meet a company mandate to create products in more environmentally sustainable ways.

The old air pockets contained a greenhouse gas; its large molecules kept the gas from passing through the pocket membranes. By contrast, the thermoforming process uses dozens of layers of film to form the membrane. Nike could then use nitrogen, a smaller-molecule gas, to inflate the pocket. Even if it passed through the skin of one layer, it would become trapped in a maze of other layers, ensuring that the pocket stays inflated without using a greenhouse gas.

At 12.3 ounces, the shoe is the lightest Air Max to date. Yet for Hartge, who has worked on Air and cushioning initiatives for 20 years, finally realizing the original vision isn't the end of the story. Hartge is already mulling improvements to the 360.

"We're getting to where we wanted to be after all these years," he said. "I almost feel it's like the end of the first chapter."