This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
The Swoosh will shift production towards “newness and innovation.”
Nike Air Force 1s are going to be more scarce in the upcoming months.
In an earnings call on March 21, Matt Friend, Nike EVP & Chief Financial Officer, stated that the brand will scale back on classics, including the Air Force 1.
We are in the midst of shifting product portfolio toward newness and innovation.
Given the way consumers are responding to our newest product journeys, even amidst a more promotional environment, we have decided to accelare our actions.
For example. we are pulling back supply of classics, such as the Air Force 1.
Matt Friend, EVP & Chief Financial Officer
The decision arrives just a few years after the Air Force 1 celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022. As Nike moves toward newness and innovation, the rising cost of sneakers, especially the AF1, could have influenced the decision to scale back on one of the most influential sneakers of all time.
For years, the AF1 was priced at $90 until 2020 when it reached $100. A basic pair now costs $115.
Arriving in 1982, the Nike Air Force 1 was a game changer for the young brand being the first to deliver Nike Air cushioning to basketball shoes. The shoe was the focal point of a significant Nike advertising campaign that incorporated six of the top NBA players of the time, including Moses Malone, who would go on to win an NBA title while wearing the Nike Air Force 1.
The shoe came and went the year it debuted, but due to the demand from three retailers in NYC, Philly, and Baltimore, the Nike Air Force 1 was brought back in 1984 and has been on the market ever since with easily more than 5,000 colorways under its name and remains as one the top-selling Nike models of all time.
Expect to see fewer Air Force 1s on shelves and sites in the upcoming months.
Keep it locked on Nice Kicks on Instagram and the sneaker release dates page for more.
