How This 30-Year-Old Shoe Became the Hottest Sneaker of the Summer

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To the untrained eye, it may be easy to overlook. But once the sneaker’s plumped-up Air bubble is noticed, it can’t be unseen. 

It’s safe to say Nike, Inc.’s Sportswear division got it right with the Air Max 95 OG “Big Bubble,” released this year in celebration of the seminal sneaker’s 30th anniversary. From the model’s original Neon makeup to a special release in partnership with the Museum of Modern Art inspired by designer Sergio Lozano’s early sketch, the 2025 variation of the Air Max 95 has occupied headlines, flown off of retailer shelves and perhaps most crucially, has been well received by experts. Industry figures and longtime connoisseurs have championed the changes made to the shoe, agreeing that the modifications not only look better than the Air Max 95’s post-2000s reissues, but feel more comfortable on foot. 

Nike has had numerous wins with new sneakers this year; the Pegasus Premium is a high-performance runner with loads of off-road appeal, A’ja Wilson’s A’One just launched and is already one of the most celebrated basketball sneakers on the market and the Air Max Dn8 has even managed to win over some detractors of its predecessor, the Air Max Dn. And yet, despite these feats in innovation, one of the brand’s most talked-about sneakers in ’25 has been a shoe that was released three whole decades prior.

“The [Air Max 95] really looked and felt like the future when it came out, and that’s also part of what helps it stay relevant now,” Ben Solomon, a New York-based artist and filmmaker who recently created a MoMA-commissioned short film about the sneaker’s legacy, tells WWD. “It is the best example of a design capturing the feeling of an era. It felt like Nike cracked the code when you started seeing it in the world. That is what a sneaker is supposed to look like.”

Sleek yet sturdy, tastefully colorful and instantly recognizable, Lozano’s design was famously inspired by human anatomy. The Air Max 95’s soft mesh and synthetic suede uppers are emblematic of muscle fibers. The shoe’s unique speed-lace loops, which are often highlighted in a bright hue, were intended to be rib-like in their structure. Lozano even considered the outsole on the bottom of the shoe, which features a segmented pattern akin to a spine. 

Then there’s the shoe’s key selling point: its Air bubbles. While Nike’s visible Air technology has ballooned into full-length, 360-degree units in the decades since, the 1995 Air Max installment broke ground by introducing a visible Air pocket to the forefoot of a running shoe for the first time. 

This first-of-its-kind cushioning helped make Air Max 95 even more cutting edge, yet it never truly caught on as a performance running shoe. While it was originally billed as a runner, it’s far more common to see the Air Max 95 styled with denim, graphic T-shirts and tracksuits. Beloved worldwide, the shoe is particularly known for being a street style staple up and down the U.S.’s east coast and in Japan and the UK. 

James Whitner, founder of The Whitaker Group, whose A Ma Maniére entity recently collaborated with Nike on two special-edition versions of the Air Max 95 and was one of a handful of retailers selected to stock the ’25 Neon reissue, remembers the sneaker catching on immediately.

“For me personally, the 95 was the OG, it transcended performance right out the gate. Yeah, it was technically a running shoe, but nobody I knew was lacing those up to go jog. It was about the look, the presence. The Air Max 95 helped shape what we now think of as Air Max culture, especially in the Black community. From the moment it dropped, it had that energy. It was bold, expensive, hard to get. So if you had a pair, it said something. I still think that shoe is part of the ‘look’ for certain people. It became a statement, and honestly, it never really stopped being one,” Whitner tells WWD.

As the Air Max 95’s popularity surged, Nike quietly introduced modifications to the model’s build around the 2000s. The silhouette of the shoe began to look different, largely due to a steady shrinking of its signature Air bubbles.

These sorts of adjustments are common industry wide with retro footwear; factories, materials, and methods are constantly shifting, which makes it unrealistic to expect every sneaker rerelease to be a one-to-one match with the original. However, with the Air Max 95, the tweaks had become so pronounced over time that it earned a reputation for being somewhat of an uncomfortable sneaker which, for purists, also didn’t look quite like the design they had come to know.  

For the Air Max 95’s 30th anniversary, Nike Sportswear delved into its archives with the intention of reengineering the sneaker to more closely match the look and feel of the ’95 original. Similar to the treatment given to the Air Max 1 ’86 OG Big Bubble in 2023, the ’25 version of the Air Max 95 features noticeably larger Air units and a retooled shape which bring the shoe as close as its been to its original form since the early 2000s. The updates themselves are rather technical and may not do much to excite a layperson, but the brand’s efforts have been well received by those in the know.

“I appreciate what Nike did with the Big Bubble, it shows a willingness to revisit the roots and bring something full circle,” Whitner said. “This version gives people a peek behind the curtain, almost like a director’s cut of the original. It invites deeper appreciation from both the old heads who remember the first wave and the new generation just now discovering it. For me, it’s a reminder that timeless design can always be reimagined, as long as the intention is pure.”

In April, shortly after the arrival of the Air Max 95 OG Big Bubble, Kith founder Ronnie Fieg gave the reissue a glowing review. “After comparing this year’s retro to the original from ’95, they really brought back the original shape and last from that era,” Fieg wrote on X. “And even though some people say the big bubble isn’t that noticeable, it actually makes a huge difference when wearing, both visibly and physically…Big win for Nike here.”

Along with this year’s Big Bubble release, recent collaborations have helped bring new interest to the Air Max 95. Along with the aforementioned A Ma Maniére two-pack, London-based streetwear label Corteiz released three highly coveted special makeups of the model in ’23 followed by a fourth in April. 

“What made it really special was the opportunity to bridge generations,” Whitner said of A Ma Maniére’s work on the sneaker. “For those of us who were there when the 95 first dropped, it’s a deeply nostalgic shoe. But for today’s youth, this may be their first real connection to it. Being able to reintroduce the silhouette in a way that resonates now, that’s the kind of work we live for.”

Nike typically doesn’t announce sales figures for individual sneakers, and the limited quantities of Air Max 95 OG Big Bubble releases thus far may not make enough of a sales impact to be singled out in an upcoming earnings report, but the reception to the brand’s latest remaster has been undeniable. 

To Solomon, the recipe for the Air Max 95’s latest success isn’t solely the Big Bubble campaign or a string of collaborations, but its authenticity.

“People are excited for sneakers that have their own history to discover as opposed to something lifted from a marketing brief and sold back to them as ‘storytelling,’” the filmmaker said.

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