In and around 2024, it felt like every day there was a new two-tone or flooded colorway for the Air Force 1. Judging from Nike’s public moves, clearly audience sentiment towards that unending stream of palette-swapped looks was mixed, evidenced by John Donahue’s reduction of staple models. On a far less important level, even from our perspective, there was a feeling of stasis or stagnancy when it came to the vaunted Swoosh icon.

To their credit, the tenor around the model has absolutely changed. The fact that there are so many disparate threads to follow in terms of where Beaverton has taken Bruce Kilgore’s design is surely integral to why: the nostalgia-fueled ’01 cut, the Victor Solomon Air Force 1 series that embraces a regal edge, the ultra-limited Victor Victor series, the worlds-collide NIGO effort.

Even on a general release level, the Nike Air Force 1 “Safari” shown here is part of a freshened approach to the erstwhile hoops shoe.…