Nike SB, the sportswear brand’s skateboarding division, is working on the Air Max 95 for an intra-brand collaboration that’s set to arrive as a quickstrike come next year, sneaker industry sources tell Complex. There is no confirmed release date yet for the Nike SB x Air Max 95.
2025 should be a marquee year for the Air Max 95, as Nike is planning on celebrating the 30th anniversary of the model with special editions and true-to-the-original style retros. Sneaker industry sources tell Complex that Nike will reissue the original “Neon” Nike Air Max 95 with a big bubble treatment for the soles, similar to the approach used on the Nike Air Max 1 ‘86 introduced in 2023.
Nike did not respond to a request for comment on the upcoming SB Air Max.
SB has borrowed from other Nike departments in the past, reimagining retro models as skate shoes. The SB Dunk line made SB a subculture phenomenon in the 2000s by turning a basketball silhouette from the 1980s into a canvas for collectible footwear. SB worked with the Nike-owned Jordan Brand in 2023, updating the Air Jordan 4 retro with tweaks meant to make it more skateable.
One source says that SB will follow a formula on its Air Max 95 redesign similar to that of its Air Jordan 4.
The Nike Air Max 95 does not have a rich history in skateboarding, but has been used for skate footwear. It inspired the DC Legacy, a skate shoe made for Danny Way and Colin McCay in 1998. The Air Max 95 was worn by pro skater Stevie Williams, who was photographed in the shoe at Phildelphia’s Love Park in the late ‘90s.
The photo, which shows Williams catching a high switch heelflip in the original “Neon” 95 colorway with a Green Bay Packers jersey on, is one of those sneaker history moments that regularly circulates on social media decades later. One presumes it was on SB’s moodboard as the group pitched its own version of the 95, although it’s unclear if Williams will be involved in the SB Air Max.
For Williams, the session at Love didn’t feel particularly notable when it happened.
“I don’t even think I was really skating that day,” Williams told Complex in an October 2020 interview. “I had came downtown with the green Air Maxes with the Reggie White jersey, just kicking it at Love.”
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