Get ready for Air Max 97's event in Milan

Since they were launched for the first time, back in 1997, over twenty years ago, the Air Max 97 – also better known as Air Max Silver – marked the beginning of an era. Between the late 90s and early 2000s they were worn by everyone, the coolest accessory to own was a pair of Silver, they made the difference, being a real status symbol among teenagers around the world, but especially in Italy.

First, it spread throughout big cities, such as Milan, Rome, Naples, within the fervent reality of subcultures, then began to reach even in the smallest villages. Throughout Italy, the Silver was the shoe par excellence. And it has been so for at least a decade.

For the 20th anniversary, on December 2 the Air Max 97 made their return, and, in order to celebrate, Milan will host an exclusive event.

This Monday, November 28, at Silver Factory in Piazza Vetra, from 19.30 to 22.00 you'll get the chance to discover Nike.com/sneakers, Nike's new sneaker's destination, and attend the Silver Beat 97, animated by exclusive performances by the Italian rappers Sfera Ebbasta, della Dark Polo Gang, di Sick Luke, Charlie Charles, Ghali, Rkomi, Izi and even Skepta.

To know how to attend, click here.

Also, ahead of the launch, some Silver aficionados decided to share their memories about this footwear legend.

MICHELA GATTERMAYER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ELLE (1989-2004)

“I have to admit that I first found them horrendous. But that kind of fascinating horrendous: brutto-bello. Freaks. Their aesthetic was totally outside of our visual vocabulary. At the time sneakers were worn very infrequently in fashion. [...] The silvers were so strange, so far outside of the canons what we were used to looking at and understanding, that you were able to wear them with everything. They had no known rules attached to them so you could do whatever you wanted with them.”

SHA RIBEIRO, PHOTOGRAPHER

“As a graffiti writer it was cool because you could get a photo taken of yourself with a flash in front of a piece in a tunnel and you’d be all covered up but there was a crazy glare coming from your shoes. They made you feel like you were doing some space age stuff when you went out at night.”

RICCARDO BALLI, DJ

“I can remember that you had kids turning up wearing AM97s for both the hip-hop and the hardcore nights. As an observer from the decks I thought that the AM97s were much better suited to the hardcore scene [...] with their shaved heads and 180 + BPM music and their whole cult of synthetic velocity. I remember looking out at the crowd of Italian gabbers dancing wearing silvers and being instantly reminded of Italian Futurists.”