Nike Air Force 1 Pixel

Air Force 1 Pixel

The Air Force 1 Pixel, which was designed as a Low sneaker for women, is dressed in eye-catching pixelated details that make for a captivating look. Beginning underfoot, the outsole has two distinct box-shaped sections cut into it, one under the forefoot, the other below the heel. Usually, these are a different colour to the rest of the sole, for example, the Amethyst Ash colourway, with its plush purple suede upper, features a lilac tone on the cutout squares that contrast against its otherwise white outsole. However, on a select few versions, such as the Cargo Khaki, the colour is the same – here white over the entire sole unit to balance against the deep green suede up top. Around the edges of the outsole, instead of their regular layout, the unevenly spaced lugs are different shapes and sizes. This effect extends up into the blocky midsole, which uses a new construction that includes foam alongside rubber capsules in high-impact areas for extra comfort and durability.

The Nike Air Force 1 Pixel rests on a tall midsole that includes smooth areas as well as textured ones and a notable section sticking up from the forefoot. Its geometric patterns interrupt the midsole’s Air lettering and its stitching. Both have been split in two, with the text shifted apart and the stitching only appearing on certain areas, stopping at a point where the heel has been divided. The tip of the outsole, conspicuous due to its star-shaped grip patterns, also reaches further up the front of the foot. A final midsole detail is the two tiny pixel indentations in the medial midfoot that sit in front of a band of rubber containing the coordinates: 45.4888 N, 122.8013 W – marking an intersection in Beaverton, United States, not far from Nike’s headquarters. While most Nike Air Force 1 Pixels, such as the All-White colourway, have a midsole with a single hue, there are rare ones that use colourful highlights on some of these details. A notable example is the Have A Good Game edition, which has both yellow and green pieces on its midsole to match the pastel colours of pink, purple and blue on the rest of the shoe.

These pixelated features continue across the upper, beginning in the toe box, where the perforations are tiny squares instead of circles. On the AF1 Pixel, they are arranged in their own unique way – 10 holes organised into a single line of four flanked by a row of three either side. Moving up the foot, the eyelets are also square-shaped, while the lace lock is a rectangular tube. Just a few Air Force 1 Pixel shoes come without this lace lock, such as the Desert Sand, with its bold black swooshes and pale blue heel panel. Around the laces, the eyestay is only stitched along part of its edge, with a gap along the length of the midfoot panel below. Behind this, the tongue is the same material as the rest of the sneaker, whether it be leather or suede, except for on models like the Gold Chain, whose tongue and swoosh are made of grey corduroy and whose upper is crafted from leather. The tongue patch is sewn along the bottom but loops loosely over its peak and extends down its underside. This label normally displays one single tone across its background, but the Fresh release used it as a chance to bring some added flair to the outer through a colour gradient that fades from red through to orange. Down the sides, Nike swooshes can be seen, but these ones are recessed into the rear and midfoot overlays, generating added depth. Though colourways like the Ghost Aqua use the same hue on both swoosh and upper, many Pixel sneakers decorate the Nike logo with eccentric patterns. Amongst others, there are the Zebra, with its grey and white graphic, and the Leopard SE, whose swoosh has a brown background with black patches on top.

The Air Force 1 Pixel also features distinctive branding made through an inventive use of Nike and AF1 text, whose characters have been worked into cube shapes, creating a cool 3D appearance. The right shoe has the Nike cube on its insole and the AF1 cube over its tongue tab and heel panel, while the opposite is true of the left. Often this branding stands out in black or some other tone against these features, for example on the light beige and white of the Cashmere iteration. In the case of the Summit White model, however, there is no difference in colour, meaning that its branding effects appear subtly against its exterior. At the back, the heel tabs have square edges, thus completing the distinctive angular design of this women’s sneaker.