Nike is thinking past Air Max Day 2026 before the ink is even dry on today's releases. On March 26, alongside the Air Liquid Max debut and a loaded slate of Air Max 95 and 90 drops, the brand announced Air Works, an inaugural research, development, and design program that hands eight independent designers the tools, access, and resources to build their own 3D-printed Air Max silhouettes.
The eight designers come from Beijing, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Shanghai, and Tokyo, a deliberate global spread that frames Air Works as a community-first initiative, not just a talent showcase. In May, all eight will travel to Nike's Philip H. Knight Campus in Beaverton, Oregon for a four-day residency. While there, they'll work directly with Nike designers and engineers, and get access to facilities most people never see: the Air Manufacturing Innovation facility, the Department of Nike Archives, the Nike Sport Research Lab, Blue Ribbon Studio, and the Bowerman Footwear Lab. Their 3D-printed silhouettes will be developed in partnership with Zellerfeld, the same company behind the Air Max 1000 and Air Max 95000.
"Air Works is about celebrating the cultural impact of Air Max and inviting a core group of global creatives to imagine what its future could look like," said Andy Caine, VP and Creative Director of Nike Sportswear. "It's also a chance to deliver a deep dive in Air Max history, innovation, and inspiration, and to unite outside perspectives with Nike-only tools, talent, and capabilities to redefine what Air Max means to this generation."
Each designer's finished shoe will be produced as a limited friends-and-family run, distributed in their respective home communities throughout the next year — building toward Air Max Day 2027, which marks the 40th anniversary of the Air Max 1. The program has clear precedent: Nike's 2017 Vote Forward contest put the Air Max 1/97 design in public hands and produced the Sean Wotherspoon collaboration, one of the most culturally significant sneakers of the last decade. Air Works is a more controlled version of that same instinct — curated rather than open, but with deeper creative access than anything Nike has offered before.
The workshop runs May 11 through May 14. No word yet on who the eight designers are.
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