BEHIND THE DESIGN

In celebration of the Air Force 1’s 35th anniversary, Nike asked Public School’s Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne to create their own version of the classic shoe. “The Air Force 1 is a perfect form and one of our favorite silhouettes of all time,” says Dao-Yi. “At first, we thought, ‘There's nothing we can do to make this better than it already is, right?’”

At Nike WHQ, Dao-Yi and Maxwell took a minimalistic, sustainable approach to early designs. They also drew inspiration from the AF1’s storied legacy in basketball and NYC. After four hours of stapling and gluing, they achieved a unique prototype that combines pieces of a white AF1 Low, Mid, and High. “On one hand, we were having conversations about doing a Low or a High,” remembers Dao-Yi. “On the other hand, we wanted to make a statement about our thoughts regarding waste and social responsibility.”

The PSNY x AF1 High has the tongue, collar wings, and strap of the High, the back tab of the Mid, and the foundation of the Low. The eyestay is purposefully reversible and removable, allowing several different wearability options. “We didn’t want to change any patterns, create any new dyes, or introduce any new materials,” explains Dao-Yi, who also chose to put the original’s interior zigzag stitching onto the exterior.

At the same time, Dao-Yi and Maxwell noticed the rudimentary sample tags used by Nike developers for various product details. They chose to recreate this format for the PSNY AF1’s hangtag, with humorous descriptions like NYC STREETS and YOUR CHOICE.

When it came to colorways, the Public School palette of black and white were obvious choices. After experimenting with a gray dye of the white version, they decided to make a third option. All shoes come in plastic, screen-printed bags inside of each shoe box.