Air Max 180 BLN – Crack The Code

From Sunday, the 24th of March onwards, you will have the chance to access our digital rally leading you the way to our launch location. Every couple of hours a new question needs to be answered to reveal the venue’s final GPS coordinates, starting at 2PM.

At the end of the 80s, the fall of the Berlin Wall led to the reunification of Germany. A few years later artists, designers, musicians and many more flocked to Berlin and shaped a cultural center out of the city – one of the world’s leading electronic music and club scenes thrived.

After the Air Max‘ first release back in 1991, the upcoming Air Max 180 BERLIN serves as a celebration of Berlin’s unique nightlife and music culture but also a constant reminder of the rhythm of progress. While Berlin actually relies on a signature black club dress code, Nike launches the colorful counter-design and presents a new Air Max 180 model shining in a flashy neon and pink bright colorway.

The neon elements on the heel, the air unit and tongue to represent the reverberating rays of light synonymous with nightlife. Reminiscent of Berlin’s brutal architecture a gray upper forms the counterpart of the pair. A „UNITY“-lettering on the right and „FREEDOM“-lettering on the left foot are revealed through the transparent outsole. Both words indicate the power of music to bring people together as well as a club scene that allows all participants to be themselves.

We spent a day together with DJ and Air Max 180 brand ambassador Adam Port who got us some insights about his personal memories on the unification of Berlin back in October 1990.

The Air Max 180 was first released in 1991 – shortly after the reunification of Germany in October 1990. What are your memories about Berlin referring to that time back then? My strongest memory of this time period is that the U-Bahn was passing the East stations without a stop. The light in the stations was dimmed down and it looked like kind of a ghost town. We were kids back then, often looking out of the window, trying to spot soldiers.

How would you describe the development of Berlin’s club scene within the last decade? The has been an enormous rise of clubs of worldwide relevance within the last years. The amount of people who are coming to Berlin just because of its electronic rave culture has also highly increased. It on the one hand gets more professional but it’s also becoming more and more difficult to run a warehouse party somewhere in Berlin.

Which was the first Air Max silhouette you got in touch with? And what makes this 180 model so special for you?  A good question. I think the AM90 and the AM1. I actually came across the AM180 quite late, most probably when it had its first retro comeback. Honestly, I was just too young back in 1991 and had no money for sneakers at this time.

Our female face of the AM 180 launch is Australian born and Berlin based model and artist Katie Kuiper who in fact didn’t experience the unification by herself but is firmly anchored in Berlin’s techno scene.

The Air Max 180 is a tribute to Berlin’s techno scene. You do live in Berlin. Please give us some insights about this scene – what do you like about it? What makes it so special in your eyes to any other city? Yes, I live in here.  Berlin as a city is dark and mysterious… a little too cold for my liking but a very special place full of culture, history and music.

Which was the first Air Max silhouette you got in touch with? Back when? Truth is, my footwear choices are normally very impractical…  wearing the Air Max 180 was a much lower to the ground, but very comfortable shock to the system.

As opposed to Berlin’s signature black techno outfit, the Berlin edition of the 180 shines in a neon bright and pink colorway. What’s your opinion on this model in terms of clubbing?  No doubt about it – could definitely spend many hours on the dance floor wearing them.