The Ten Best Nike Air Maxes Ever

There are trainers you buy because you need something on your feet. Then there are trainers that make you reconsider your monthly budget.

Nike Air Max has been causing the second problem for decades.

That little window in the sole has a lot to answer for. What began as a way of showing off cushioning became something worth staring at through a shop window, usually while working out whether you could survive on toast until payday.

Choosing the ten best Air Maxes ever is an excellent way to upset someone with a carefully organised trainer collection. But a list needs opinions, so here we are.

This ranking is about the silhouettes: their looks, character and lasting appeal. Favourite colourways get a mention, but an expensive collaboration doesn’t automatically jump the queue.

Laces sorted? Let’s go.

10. Nike Air Max 360

The Air Max 360 looks like the design team were finally allowed to spend the entire budget on the sole.

Released in 2006, it made the cushioning the centre of attention. There is something wonderfully excessive about its appearance: all that visible Air beneath an upper that already had plenty going on.

It doesn’t have the easy elegance of an Air Max 1. Wear it with the wrong trousers and things can get complicated. But ambition deserves a place here, and the 360 has enough of that to fill a considerably larger shoe.

9. Nike Air Max Light

The Air Max Light is the pair you notice after you’ve finished looking at the obvious favourites.

Arriving in 1989, it offered a lighter follow-up to the original Air Max. Visually, it occupies a lovely spot between classic running shoe and something you could happily build an entire outfit around.

The panelling gives colour plenty of room to work without overwhelming the shape. Even a bright pair can look surprisingly tidy.

It deserves more attention. Although, if you already love the Light, you might prefer everyone else to remain distracted.

8. Nike Air Max 93

The Air Max 93 has a rounded, slightly odd charm that becomes more appealing the longer you look at it.

Its wraparound heel Air and snug-looking collar give it a distinct identity. It feels experimental, but there is still enough restraint to keep everything together.

The white, black and turquoise combination is particularly good. Fresh without shouting. Sporty without making you feel obliged to do any sport.

There are more famous Air Maxes, certainly. Few make overlooked status look quite this attractive.

7. Nike Air Max 98

The Air Max 98 is busy. Happily, gloriously busy.

Layers, lines and a substantial sole compete for your attention, yet the whole thing somehow works. It is a reminder that late-nineties trainer design had very little interest in being discreet.

The red, white and blue “Gundam” colourway shows the shape at its best. There is enough detail to keep your eyes occupied while the rest of your outfit gets away with being fairly simple.

A plain T-shirt, decent trousers and these. You’ve already done enough.

6. Nike Air Max 180

The 180 earns its place through proportion.

The low shape, distinctive heel and sweep of the upper give it an athletic elegance that still looks convincing decades after its 1991 debut.

In Ultramarine, it is especially difficult to fault. The blue and warm red accents bring just enough excitement to all that white.

It also has the useful quality of looking good from the side, which matters when you’ve spent an unreasonable amount of time checking your own feet in reflective shopfronts.

We’ve all got our hobbies.

5. Nike Air Max BW

The BW has presence.

The name refers to its “Big Window”, but the rest of the shoe deserves attention too. There is a satisfying solidity to the shape, with enough panel space for a strong colour combination to make a proper impression.

Persian Violet is the one for this list. That purple gives the shoe its personality without taking over every inch of it.

The BW looks particularly good when it is allowed to be a little chunky. Give it some room beneath the trouser hem. A shoe this good shouldn’t have to fight its way out.

4. Nike Air Max Plus

Some trainers politely complement an outfit. The Air Max Plus arrives with its own plans.

Those wavy overlays, the fading colours and the distinctive sole make it instantly recognisable. Sean McDowell’s 1998 design introduced Tuned Air, giving us the familiar TN connection.

Hyper Blue remains a superb expression of the shape. The colour draws you in; the framework over the upper keeps you looking.

The Plus can divide opinion, which is part of its appeal. A trainer with this much character was always going to have people taking sides.

Fourth place feels fair. Its supporters will consider that an outrage.

3. Nike Air Max 97

The Air Max 97 looks magnificent in silver.

That may sound like an obvious observation, but plenty of shoes would look ridiculous given the same treatment. The 97 carries it because the flowing lines and sleek profile make the colour feel completely at home.

Christian Tresser’s design brought full-length visible Air to the family. Visually, though, it is the movement of the upper that makes the shoe so satisfying. Your eye follows it from toe to heel without getting stuck anywhere.

The Silver Bullet is the defining choice here. Reflective details, metallic finish and just enough red to interrupt the silver.

It is the sort of trainer that encourages you to take the longer route home. Preferably past a few windows.

2. Nike Air Max 90

If someone asked for a single pair to explain the appeal of Air Max, the 90 would make the conversation easy.

It has everything: strong panelling, a brilliant shape, a visible heel unit and room for colour to make a difference.

The Infrared version gets the balance particularly right. Grey, white and black provide the foundation, then those bright accents lift the whole thing. They land exactly where your eyes want them.

Originally known as the Air Max III, the 90 still feels like a complete design. Nothing about its appeal depends on an elaborate backstory or a famous name attached to the box.

Put a good pair on your feet and the argument largely makes itself.

1. Nike Air Max 1

The original takes it.

Tinker Hatfield’s Air Max 1 arrived in 1987, and its first-place finish here owes as much to its appearance as its place in trainer history.

The proportions are superb. The curved mudguard gives the shoe its shape, the upper has enough detail to stay interesting, and the visible Air sits neatly within the whole design.

The original white, grey and red combination is still a wonderful demonstration of how colour can define a shoe without overwhelming it. Other versions have pushed the materials and palette in all sorts of directions, but the underlying shape keeps earning its place.

That is why it wins. Strip away the launch stories, collector excitement and arguments about rarity, and you are left with a very good-looking trainer.

Nearly four decades after its debut, it still makes a fresh pair feel like an occasion.

The 95 crowd are now entitled to ask whether their invitation got lost in the post.

And Yes, About the Air Max 95…

You can’t call this a serious Air Max list and quietly pretend the 95 doesn’t exist.

Sergio Lozano’s anatomy-inspired design, the layered upper and those flashes of neon make it one of the most distinctive trainers Nike has ever produced. Leaving it outside the ten is the hardest call here.

But ten places means ten places. On this particular list, the shapes above edge it for personal appeal. On another day, the Neon 95 could barge straight into the top five and refuse to leave.

That is the trouble with Air Max. You finish choosing ten and immediately begin negotiating with yourself.

Which pair takes your top spot—and what have I got unforgivably wrong?