Feature: The Nike Air Max Deluxe
The Air Max Deluxe is the 1999 Air Max that took its lines from rave culture. It came back in 2018 for the first time since, and this women's-only colourway in Midnight Navy and Laser Orange was one of the first of the retros to land. We had it in that August.
What is the Nike Air Max Deluxe?
A late-'90s running shoe that borrows from both the Air Max 97 and the Air Max 98, which is why people sometimes search for it as an Air Max 97 Deluxe. It sits on a full-length Air unit in the style of the 97's sole, and it's sometimes called the 97's bigger brother. The upper is a single piece of neoprene with no seams, finished with reflective details, TPU pieces at the toe and heel, and a small nod to the Foamposite on the heel.
Why does the Air Max Deluxe look the way it does?
The flowing lines across the upper were meant to echo the sound waves at late-'90s raves. The rest came from what people wore to them. Reflective fabric and loud prints were everywhere at raves in Europe and the UK, and the Deluxe was built to match. It never had the profile of the 97 in America, but it found its people in Europe, and London in particular has always rated it.
The 2018 retro
Nike brought the Deluxe back almost twenty years after the original, and the team behind it said they wanted it one to one with the 1999 shoe, stitch for stitch. The first colourways included the OG white and Photo Blue, and Midnight Navy/Laser Orange. The men's version of that colourway dropped in mid-August 2018, and the women's exclusive in our photos arrived around the same time.
The women's Midnight Navy colourway
Ours is style code AQ1272-400, the women's version of the OG. The neoprene is a light blue shot through with yellow wave lines and reflective flecks, with a sandy grey panel along the side and a small orange Swoosh. Underneath is a gold midsole, and royal purple runs around the heel and outsole, finished with an iridescent heel tab that shifts colour as you move.
Skepta's Air Max Deluxe
A few weeks later, on 8 September 2018, Skepta released his own version, the Air Max Deluxe SK. It's black neoprene with a VHS static print taken from the video for "That's Not Me", "Never Sleep On Tour" on the inside, the single's release date on the outside, and a deep red Air unit. It came in men's sizes only, and it was a nod to the London sneaker crowd that had kept the Deluxe's name going since 1999.
What to wear with the Air Max Deluxe
It's big and it's loud, so everything else can stay light. When it landed, we paired ours with a light floral dress and chunky gold hoops for the weekend, and that still works. On a colder day, wide-leg trousers in a plain navy or cream let the colours in the shoe do the work.
The pair in our photos sold out a long time ago. For the trainers we have in now, have a look at our footwear, and if you want the story of the Air unit underneath it, we've written about Nike visible Air.