Beijing Designer Marc Su Reimagines the Air Max 90 for Nike's Air Works Program

Su began drawing shoes long before he realised sneaker design could be a career. At 17, the Beijing native filled his school notebooks with sketches. When Nike launched the first edition of its On Air design competition in 2018, he was so set on taking part that he once pretended to be sick in order to enter, submitting an Air Max 95 concept inspired by Shanghai's maglev train.

Eight years later, Su is working with Nike again, this time helping to shape the future of one of the brand's best-known franchises. His Air Max Link serves as the Beijing entry in Nike Sportswear's inaugural Air Works program.

Air Works gathered eight independent designers from cities including London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo at Nike's headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.

Alongside Nike mentors and 3D-footwear company Zellerfeld, the participants were tasked with imagining new expressions of Air Max built through 3D printing. Su's design is less a conventional sneaker collaboration than a proposal for what a sneaker could become.

The Air Max Link reworks the visual language of the Air Max 90, itself a landmark of late-1980s and 1990s sneaker culture, through the lens of Beijing and its street culture.