Nike Air Max Day Overkill Countdown (Am 180)
For the fourth instalment of the Iceberg shares his never ending love for the Air Max 180. Is this the most definitive photo collection of OG freshness you've ever seen?! Hot diggity dayum!
Words by .
Along with the Air Max 1 and the Air Max 90, the Air 180 is one of the 'Fantastic Three' that Nike blessed us with at the beginning of the early 90s when they started a new era of sneaker culture. For me personally the Air 180 Ultramarine and the Air Max 90 Infrared are the absolute highlights in the world of running shoes.
Perfect fit, attractive colours and a good dose of air under the heel, that's what makes the Air 180 so special. This model is a solo fighter in the sneaker world, the other silhouettes are difficult to compare with the 180. This shoe runs with you, not you with the shoe.
When the Air 180 hit the market for the first time in 1992, the shoe initially walked past me and I started my never-ending trip to the Air Max world with its successor, the Air Max 93. One would think that new is always better but no, the 93 wasn't able to hold a candle to the 180, he had something optically over the 93, the visible air system which was seen under the entire midsole.
But really, what was this system in comparison to the incredible big bubble of the OG 180 that was more reminiscent of hovercraft than running? I remember exactly how I went out on the weekend with a friend. I was showing off with my new 93s on feet and my friend with his Air Max 180 Olympic. I couldn't take my eyes off his Olympics and the oversized air pads. How was he feeling wearing these plump pillows under his feet? Not hard to guess what came next. After the Weekend I went directly to Sport Eule, then the best shop for athletic shoes in Leipzig, and asked for a pair of these babies. Unfortunately the Olympic was no longer there, and the seller fumbled another colorway out of the box - the Ultramarine! Boom!
The sight of these sneaks made me briefly consider whether there were traces of LSD in my blood, or if my eyes were just playing a prank on me. But neither of the two were the case. After I slipped into these beauties and stood in front of the mirror, I knew that this was indeed reality, and from that moment on no one could ever separate us. No, there was no need to pack my first pair of Air 180s back into the box. I rocked them and made sure that everyone could see me and my new love together. And although we were sometimes separated over the years and the details have changed a little, true love lasts forever.
So today I wear my Air 180 HOA from 2005 on my feet. I can remember these three letters like yesterday, when they first appeared: HOA - The History Of Air. My History of Air..