This is How Nike is Kicking off the Air Force 1’s 35th Anniversary

In 1982, Bruce Kilgore designed his first basketball shoe. The Nike Air Force 1, as it became, was tested by college players and made famous by some of the NBA’s most fearsome big men. While it was recognizably cool, nobody hazarded a guess as to its crossover potential — let alone the Air Force 1’s rise as an undisputed classic sneaker.

Since then, the Air Force 1 has served as a canvas for artist and designers of all ilk, and as a result, has achieved true icon status — even by its most formal definition as a “widely known symbol.” The shoe, thanks to its mutability, has become a global street culture standard. There are more than 2,000 different iterations, from high to low and everything in between, in the shoe’s history. And in its most famous form, the unequivocal white-on-white (which debuted in the mid-’90s), the Air Force 1 is perhaps one of the most endearing designs (period) of the last century.

Fittingly, the silhouette’s 35th anniversary is predicated not only on a renewed connection to basketball through the NBA, with product like the Air Force 1 Low NBA, but it also features new versions of the most contemporary Air Force 1 execution: the SF AF-1 High.

The Air Force 1 has revolutionized the game while rapidly gaining traction around the world as a status symbol, inspiring people and communities all over. From the cleanest “white-whites” to the most beaten pair, every scuff and speck of dirt writes a story.

Look for that story to continue this Holiday season through collaboration.

This SF AF-1 High is available starting November 2 on Nike+ SNKRS, nike.com and at select retailers.