Milton Glaser, legendary designer of “I Love New York” logo and the now-famous Bob Dylan poster, once said: “There are three responses to a piece of design: Yes, no, and WOW! Wow is the one to aim for.”

Classic shoes that warrant retrospectives, anniversaries and oral histories are of the latter group: they wow. Sometimes in their elegant simplicity, other times in their unique ability to eradicate preconceived notions of the status quo and forge a new design path. The world’s largest footwear company, Nike has always excelled at locating and cultivating great designers who strive to push boundaries. From top tier in-house talent like Tinker Hatfield and Bruce Kilgore to some of the hottest names in contemporary design like Virgil Abloh and Samuel Ross, the Swoosh has always sought out the best in the business. One of its best moves, however was hiring Sergio Lozano. A young designer at the time, Nike essentially gave him free reign. The result was one of the most popular and celebrated sneakers of all time, the Air Max 95.

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