Colourway Corral: Air Max 90 ‘Infrared’

Air Max 90 ‘Infrared’ (1990)

In 1990, three years after the Air Max 1 released, the Air Max 90 burst onto the scene. The Swoosh wanted to trap as much Air as they could, elevating the wearer to new heights. Brewing major hype, the neck-breaking ‘Infrared’ AM 90 gained some serious street cred. The ‘Infrared’ colour pop was created to highlight the larger Air unit, and was originally dubbed ‘Hyvent Orange’ when it made its debut. It then copped a variety of names, including ‘MX Orange’ in 2002, ‘Infrared’ in 2003, ‘HOA’ in 2005. After all that change, Nike settled on ‘Infrared’ for the 2008, 2011 and 2016 releases.

Air Max 90 ‘Infrared Premium Ostrich’ (2008)

In 2008, we were blessed with two pairs of ‘Infrared’ Air Max 90s – the classic, and a pair decked out with premium materials. The one given the deluxe treatment sported a beautiful ostrich skin mudguard, premium leather, and plastic detailing on the ‘Infrared’ highlight that really set them apart from the OGs.

atmos x Air Max 90 ‘Duck Camo’ (2013)

At a time when Nike started to hold back their collaborative work, Japanese sneaker retailer atmos thrived. And although atmos have dropped many colabs with the team over at Beaverton, one that still stands tall to this day is the Air Max 90 ‘Duck Camo’. As the name suggests, they took the classic AM90 and splashed camo across the uppers while keeping the white midsole, laces, and ‘Infrared’ detailing.

Air Max 90 ‘Infrared Denim’ (2014)

Rumoured to be an atmos collaboration, it turned out this was all Nike. Team Swoosh went hard on these Air Max 90s, utilising the tooling to the nth degree. Bleached denim surrounds the shoe, while black snakeskin is applied to the branding. Elsewhere, the ‘Infrared’ hit in all the usual spots.

Air Max 90/360 ‘One Time Only’ (2006)

Dropping back in 2006, this was the first-ever hybrid release of the Air Max 90. The upper was taken from the classic ‘Infrared’ and slapped on top of the then-new Air Max 360 sole unit. They dropped as part of Nike’s ‘One Time Only’ pack which helped ring in the release of the AM360.

Air Max 90 ‘Hyperfuse Infrared’ (2012)

One of many Hyperfuse hybrids that released back in 2011, these Air Max 90s were originally as exclusive as can be, and were given to guests of the Crooked Tongues BBQ back in the day. Alongside some merch and a colourful box label, we thought they would never hit shelves for the public to score. However, a year later, they did see a wider release.

Air Max 90 ‘Vintage Infrared’ (2012)

Nike must have thought there were too many pristine Air Max 90s running around the street. So, to add a sprinkle of flavour, they created a vintage version of their favourite AM90. They arrived in 2012 with all the usual details, tweaked with a slightly yellowed sole. Did you pick these up?

Air Max 90 Flyknit ‘Infrared’ (2016)

In 2016, Nike took a number of their classic models and reworked them in Flyknit. The Air Max 90 ‘Infrared’ was one. Blessed with grey and white knit uppers, these were very hard to pass up.