Air Max Day 2023 - Meet Chris The Air Max Enthusiast

Ahead of Air Max day this Sunday, we caught up with Chris, a massive sneakerhead and avid Air Max fan! 

Chris lives in Wiltshire and is a full-time carpenter, husband & father of two kids, with a real passion for the Nike Air Max in particular, so who better to speak to us ahead of one of the biggest days in the sneaker calendar!

Q: How long have you been collecting shoes for and how did it all start?

A: Shoes have always been a big thing for me since school, I never had the latest pairs back in school but I always wanted something different as we never wanted to have the same pair as someone else. As soon as I had my own money I started buying trainers, I would hit up footlocker on payday and buy 1 or 2 pairs, it was never about collecting loads of pairs for me, it was that feeling of having a fresh pair and rocking them. I’ve never looked at myself as a collector as such, just someone who’s enthusiastic about trainers!

Q: At what point did you decide to collect specifically Air Max 1, and what is it that you love so much about them?

A: Air Max 1 have always been my main shoe, I vary the collection with different pairs and mix up what pairs I wear. I enjoy searching for those hard to find pairs too, I used to search eBay in my early teens, I had seen some crazy pairs on there, at the time they were well out of my budget but I was still amazed at some of the designs, most of the pairs I had never seen before and they looked crazy compared to pairs that were on the shelf in my local store. From then the collab pairs were on my radar and I was always keeping an eye out for pairs of Air Max.

Q: Do you still look at and collect other releases or focus purely on Air Max 1’s?

A: I have quite a wide variety of silhouettes and still pick up other pairs when they release, but if there’s multiple pairs dropping on the same day, the AM1 will always be my main priority!

Q: What’s the most important trait in an Air Max 1 that will make you want to add it to your collection?

A: Good question! One of the most important for me is if I actually like how it looks, I love the history behind the older pairs too. I don’t think there’s one trait that would make me pick one pair over another, there’s so many different AM1’s and some carry history, some hype and some insanely good materials!

Q: What’s your top 3 Air Max 1’s of all time, and why?

A: That’s hard to narrow it down to three haha, the OG red would take the top spot for me, the other two would be pairs I would love to own such as the Albert Heijn or the White F&F Masters.

Q: What Air Max 1 do you still need to add to your collection?

A: It’s a never ending list, but right at the top of the list at the moment are the lucky green patta’s and the brs in a UK7 if anyone has a pair?!

Q: What’s the oldest AM1 that you own?

A: The oldest pair I own are from 1987, I own 2 pairs from 1987… the OG red and OG blue colourways.

Q: What’s the rarest shoe you own?

A: I'm lucky enough to own the Kid Robot Hyperstrike which were given out to friends and family alongside the released black pair back in 2005. Also with some of the vintage pairs, there’s hardly any around anymore, like the 1995 obsidian retro in which I’ve seen less than a handful of other pairs out there.

Q: What’s the most valuable AM1 that you own?

A: Some prices are pretty wild at the moment so I wouldn’t really know, but some pairs have more sentimental value to me.

Q: What’s the first ever and last pair of AM1’s that you bought?

A: The first AM1 I bought that I still own was the AM1 Sandtrap, before that they were worn until they were ready for the bin and then thrown away. The last pair I bought was the “Think Tank” which released recently in Japan.

Q: What is your favourite Air Max silhouette outside of the Air Max 1?

A: Outside of the 1’s, I like the am90’s and 95’s . I also have a few pairs of 98’s too.

Q: What do you think of the OG Big Bubble releasing on Air Max Day?

A: Absolutely love it, I’m a sucker for an OG red but the amount of effort and design that has gone into it, making it as close as possible to the OG is amazing in my opinion. Really excited to get my hands on a pair.

Q: Finally, please let us know where people can find you and your collection? 

A: You can find me on Instagram @_marshallahsram_ ✌🏼