Once the sun comes out, so do the Air Maxes, hence why we have gotten into the summer spirit to create a new concept colorway for the Air Max 97. This time we decided to deck it out in a yellow, white and black theme, so, check out how it went above and read more about our thought process behind it, below.
Our concept comes in a black mesh base, with striped overlays covered in white and yellow, circling around the sneaker. White is also present on the laces and heel tab, whilst yellow is used for the tongue tab and the embroidered swoosh on each side of the shoe. The lining and tongue also come in black, as well as the midsole, which encases a yellow-tinted full-length Air Max unit. Lastly, the sole is dressed in yellow, keeping the shoe to only three colors.
If you have seen some of our previous concepts before then you can probably tell we like to match colors with black and white for an Air Jordan 1 Chicago-esque finish, but who can blame us, it looks great! And in this case, not only has yellow rarely been the color of choice to pair with black and white, but the Air Max 97 is far from the traditional sneaker to rock this colorway. The Air Max 97 is more than familiar with volt green detailing though, so we didn’t see any reason why our bright yellow couldn’t look great on the silhouette too. After all, running shoes are supposed to be bright, and by adding some white and black accenting to add some contrast, you are left with a beautiful everyday style, that channels a sporty 90’s look.
It’s been a while since we have styled an Air Max 97, but its design, especially the upper, is so beautiful, that you can understand why we have returned. The wave pattern overlays that circle around the upper make for some of the best and most unique colorblocking, especially for a shoe of its age, that really emphasizes the idea of movement, by resembling how running feet become a blur of color. By using a black base, we were able to really emphasize these striped overlays, but it also reminded us of Bumblebee from the Transformers franchise, how his metal mech could be seen between his yellow-painted armor. But maybe that last point is just us!