The year of Nike Volt

We're in the middle of the neon season, and there's no doubt about it. 

From Kardashian dressed in fluorescent colors - Kim also matched hair and Mercedes to the outfit-, passing through the Prada Linea Rossa collection, finishing with the latest ss19 Off-White women's collection, it seems that nothing can obscure the trend that by now one year, trying, succeeding now in a striking way, to conquer the scene.

Everything starts in the 80s, when the watchword was to exaggerate. Oversized sweaters, skinny pants and innumerable accessories were tinted with hot pink, yellow, orange and green. Everything could and should been fluorescent. In a certain sense the search for color was synonymous with an optimism that was spreading in society.
Whether today it is optimism or just a fashion fact it is difficult to establish it; that is, it is certain that we are in the presence of a real and unexpected return of the neon trend.

As a sneakerhead I could not investigate the origins of the neon trend in the world of sneakers.

It is impossible not to mention the Hot Lava, made famous by the tennis player Andre Agassi who during the 1990 Roland Garros wore a Nike Air Tech Challenge II Hot Lava which caught the attention of the media. There was more talk on the "pink" of his shoes than his performance in the field, and despite Agassi's clarification on the fact that it was Hot Lava and not just pink, from that moment the French Open opted for a total white dress code.

More recently in 2011, Nike, looking for a way to unveil a new shoe during the Olympics, patented the Volt, making it synonymous with Swoosh. The particular coloring proved successful because it is in that spectrum of hue to which the human eye is more sensitive. 

Since then, Nike has made several sneakers that exploit the power of the Volt.

Below is a selection of the best pre and post Volt revolution sneakers:

#1 Nike Air Tech Challenge III (1990)

#2 Nike Air Max 95 Neon (1995)

#3 Nike Zoom Air Talaria (1997)

#4 Nike Air Force 1 High Hyperfuse Volt (2011)

#5 Nike Air Max 90 White Volt (2012)

#6 Nike Air Max 98 Cool Grey Volt (2014)

#7 Nike Air Max 1 Air Max Day 3.26 (2014)

#8 Nike Air Foamposite Pro Volt (2014)

#9 Nike Sock Dart “Volt” (2015)

#10 Nike Air Presto Acronym “Volt” (2016)

#11 Nike Magic Stick x Nike Air Force 1 High VIP (2018)

#12 Nike Air VaporMax Moc 2 Acronym Light Bone (2018)

#13 Nike React Element 87 Undercover Lakeside (2018)