Nike and the creative collective Air Afrique based in Paris have teamed up to present the Air Max RK61. The shoe combines tradition, craftsmanship and innovation in a design that arouses joint travel memories.
The Air Max RK61 brings the Air concept to a new level. It combines cultural memory with a modern design, sporty attitude, unmistakable technology and elegant design language. Named after the original flight code RK of the airline Air Afrique and its founding year 1961, the silhouette is a tribute to the legacy of the historical airline, which connected West African nations with the diaspora.
Inspired by the classic Air Max SNDR and timeless moccasin designs, the RK61 conveys elegance with a refined upper material, combined with the comfort of the Nike Air Max technology. Design details take up aviation history: an Air Max unit inspired by engines, Morse sign for “Air Afrique” on the outsole, a zipper tag with the original logo of the airline and a jacquard inner feed, which is reminiscent of vintage aircraft seats.
“The term ‘Air’ is closely linked to our history: Air Afrique, the airline itself, rose into the ventilation to combine cultures and bring the people of the newly independent African states together,” explains Ahmadou-Bamba Thiam, member of the Air Afrique collective and publisher of the accompanying magazine. “We also speak of ‘Air’ as a symbolic, metaphorical survey through culture and humanity. This concept was our starting point for product design and significantly shaped the development of the elegant silhouette of the Air Max RK61.”
The rebirth of Air Afrique as a creative collective ties in with the original legacy of the airline as a sponsor of culture and intercontinental exchange. In 2021, the four members-Lamine Diaoune, Djiby Kebe, Jeremy Konko and Ahmadou-Bamba-transformed Air Afrique’s legacy into a multidisciplinary platform for the cultural expression of the African diaspora. The new Air Afrique, rooted in visual arts, film and photography, uses art and culture as a bridge and combines communities about shared memories, creativity and human relationships.
“This project would like to make the rich history of Air Afrique visible and emphasize what the airline meant as a achievement for the continent and the people in these West African countries, both locally and internationally,” says Jupiter Disphy, senior designer of the silhouette. “Travel should be accessible to everyone. The opportunity to get to know new people, to see distant relatives and experience different cultures in a sustainable way. As a team, we wanted to pay respect for a era of mobility, which is perhaps unknown to many, in the form of a shoe that expresses these ideas and emotions.”
The Air Max RK61 ties in with Nike’s first collective cooperation and builds on common values that were expressed in the “Air Afrique Football Club” campaign that started last year.
“We very consciously choose who we cooperate with and make sure that we do justice to the name Air Afrique,” emphasizes Thiam. “Nike is a global brand with a cultural platform that has reached a wide audience and has been well with us since childhood. Any innovation and design decision by Nike is well thought out and striking – this is exactly what connects it with our history of Air Afrique, because this intentionality is in the center of all our actions.”
Air Afrique and Nike bring the new silhouette with the campaign Première Classe to life. It acts as a boarding call for the next generation of athlete: inside and translates the flair of advertising from the early 20th century into a contemporary campaign that relies on comfort and elegance.
In the campaign, icons from sports and culture are found that connect generations and embody the excellence of the African diaspora: football legend Didier Drogba, the renowned Malian singer Oumou Sangaré, sprinter Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith and Mme Daba Traoré, a former employee of the original airline. Their presence underlines the width and cross -generational radiance of diasporic role models in different disciplines.
The Nike X Air Afrique Air Max RK61 is available worldwide via Snkrs and selected trading partners from October 9th.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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