Nike Officially Reveals the Air Max Dn8, Featuring Double the Air Units for Full Underfoot Coverage
Nearly a year after debuting a new type of cushioning in the Air Max Dn, Nike is now doubling its use of Dynamic Air technology for its successor.
The Nike Air Max Dn8 extends its use of Dynamic Air from just the heel to the entirety of the underfoot. Both the forefoot and heel Air unit consist of two pressurized chambers with two tubes each, making for a total of eight tubes to give the shoe its name. In the heel, the back two tubes are tuned to 15 psi (pounds per square inch) while the front two are at a lower pressure of 5 psi. The forefoot Air unit is then a mirror image of the heel, with the two 15 psi chambers closer your toes and the 5 psi chambers nearer to your midfoot.
“For the Dn8, we wanted to be lower to the ground. We wanted to feel more Air. We wanted to improve transition,” Jonathan Kosenick, Nike lead designer of Men’s Sportswear, said in a press release. “All of those goals led us to design the shoe with eight Air chambers directly in contact with the ground, which allows the chambers to more effectively compress and be way more flexible, delivering a much bouncier, springier sensation that channels a Nike performance footwear approach into a shoe you want to wear every day.”
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Although Nike is approaching innovation in the same way it does for performance footwear, the Air Max Dn8 is intended for everyday, or lifestyle, wear like its predecessor. Its upper also forms a more cohesive look with its sole unit, as the cavernous lines of the former carry over to the ridges of the latter.
“When designing the Dn8, we kept thinking about what makes some of our favorite classic Air Max models so great: that you can put them on and go, and no matter what happens over the course of the day, that shoe is not only going to succeed, it’s going to exceed expectations,” Kosenick said. “We wanted to build a shoe that had the same sort of, ‘go anywhere, do anything’ character — an impulsivity, a versatility that will perform under any circumstance by harnessing the capabilities of Dynamic Air.”
The Nike Air Max Dn8 will make its debut in a “Hyper Pink” colorway releasing February 6 through the Snkrs app and select third-party retailers. A red colorway will then follow March 6 with more to come in the immediate weeks after. Pricing is set at $190.
About the Author:
Ian Servantes is a Senior News Editor for Footwear News specializing in sneaker coverage. He’s previously reported on streetwear and sneakers at Input and Highsnobiety after beginning his career on the pop culture beat. He subscribes to the idea that “ball is life” and doesn’t fuss over his kicks getting dirty.
