Nike’s upcoming Air Max 720 is perhaps the biggest touchstone yet on that evolutionary path. Set for a debut early next year in both Swoosh and Jumpman silhouettes alike, the 720 holds the distinction of not only being a lifestyle-centric cushioning technology, but also the single biggest Air-Sole unit in the history of the Beaverton sportswear giant.

With the 720 right around the corner, we take a look back at some of the most important hallmarks in air-centric sneaker tech over the past 40 years.

The Tailwind is the one that started it all. Released in limited quantities in 1978 for the Honolulu Marathon, the Tailwind debuted the Swoosh’s first-ever Air-Sole unit — a concept Nike Air Max 2017 Damen pioneered by aerospace technology specialist Frank Rudy and one that was first brought to Nike in 1977. After creating buzz and selling out immediately in Hawaii, the Tailwind was released to the masses in 1979 and the rest is history.

After joining the team in 1985, Nike’s Director of Cushioning Innovation, David Forland, began constructing Air-Sole prototypes by hand and stumbled upon what would prove to be a pivotal moment in the history of air: he rotated the bag and placed the seams on the top and bottom instead of around the perimeter. The change allowed more volume to be safely packed into the Air-Sole and was on full display in the Air Max 1 as designer Tinker Hatfield looked to help runners better understand the cushioning benefits of their kicks. Seeing is believing, indeed, and visible air made its debut on the Air Nike Air Force 1 Dámské Max 1.

The folks up in Beaverton may have dominated air cushioning tech over the years, but they’re definitely not the only ones to use air in performance sneakers. Hi-TEC went in a direction all its own in the late 80s, developing the Air Ball Concept (ABC). An interchangeable pressurised cylinder, ABC compressed on impact and decompressed to help propel a runner into the next stride. The technology was the highlight of the marathon-ready Badwater 146 and can even be considered a precursor of sorts to modern energy-returning cushioning technologies.

Three years after the debut of the ground-breaking Air Max 1, David Forland and Tinker Hatfield were ready to up the ante with even more air. The Swoosh introduced the aptly named Air Max 90 in 1990 as Hatfield created a bold ‘Infrared’-accented design to showcase new Adidas Gazelle Damen high-volume Adidas ZX 750 Pánské Air-Sole unit developed by Forland.

While Nike focused on using air as under-foot cushioning, Reebok opted to surround the foot with an air tech that was all its own. Introduced in 1990, Pump offered wearers a customised fit by using the namesake apparatus to pump air into a bladder that was embedded in the upper.

Like that Air Max 90 before it, more air was name of the game for the Air Max BW. While the kicks used the same tried and true Air-Sole unit that appeared in the Air Max 90, the 1991 release employed an even bigger window to highlight the Swoosh’s signature cushioning tech — hence the ‘BW’ moniker.

In the pursuit of increased air volume, Forland concluded that eliminating the foam between the Air-Sole unit and the outsole would create additional space for the Air-Sole itself. The idea came to fruition Nike Air Huarache Damen in the form of 1991’s Air Max 180, which offered an air unit that wasn’t just visible from the lateral and medial sides, but from beneath the shoe, too.