Available Now // Nike Air Max Plus “M. Frank Rudy”

Phil Knight, Tinker Hatfield, and Michael Jordan are amongst the few critical players in the success of Nike’s global dominance. But without M. Frank Rudy, it’s likely that the brand would never have reached such success. The Aerospace engineer who brought his encapsulated Air technology to every footwear company across the nation was shut down by almost everyone he met. Phil Knight, though, saw immediate potential. Though the tech was first brought into the Tailwind in the late 1970s, it was Tinker Hatfield’s exposed Air units on the Air Max 1 and its subsequent lineage that propelled the technology — and the brand — into a global success. And it’s on this line that Nike will celebrate the engineer of Air, with a special-edition Air Max Plus “M. Frank Rudy” ready for release this summer.

Packed to the brim of shoutouts to the late Rudy, the pair is fitted with blueprint insoles that show the technology at work — signed off by Rudy himself. Eyestays read his name, while special Californian license plate-inspired hang tags nod to the state in which Rudy called home for the latter part of his life. Elsewhere, yellow-tined vein overlays serve as a direct nod to the original Airt units, whilst EST. 1998 nods the Air Max Plus model to which this design belongs. Color-wise, the pair is simple, with a mostly-white construction struck with striking yellow hits along the tongue, outsole and Air supports, with hand-drawn Swooshes at the midfoot linking back to the blue print insole etchings completing the design.

Though an official release date for this new Air Max Plus “M. Frank Rudy” is unknown, you should expect to see it sneak into select retailers and Nike.com in the coming months alongside some like-minded models. When they do hit shelves, we’ll be sure to keep you posted here on our official Twitter account, but until then, enjoy an official look at the pair here below.

Nike Air Max Plus “M. Frank Rudy”

Release Date: December 1, 2022

Style Code: DQ8960-100