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Nike doesn’t really do quiet months. Even on a normal stretch of the calendar, the Swoosh is reissuing an icon, evolving a runner you didn’t know needed evolving, or honoring a legend with a colorway that hits you right in the chest. The month of May is proving to be no different, and these are some of our favorite Nike sneakers available as we head into the summer season.
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Nike Air Force 1 ’07 LV8
There’s a reason the AF1 has been a fixture in Nike’s lineup for nearly five decades. The latest LV8 keeps Bruce Kilgore’s 1982 silhouette intact but mixes canvas underlays with leather overlays for a textured, layered take on the classic. The Off White colorway has that broken-in look that only gets better with age.
Nike Daybreak SP
Before the Pegasus, before the Vomero, the Daybreak was Nike’s answer to the ’70s running boom. The SP brings back that puffy retro leather build with the iconic Waffle outsole pulled straight from the 1979 original. It’s vintage-inspired in all the right ways.
Nike Air Jordan 3 “World’s Best”
Hands down the most heartfelt drop of the month. On Father’s Day 1996, MJ won his fourth championship and dedicated it to his late father, and 30 years later, Jordan Brand revisits that moment with a premium leather Bulls colorway layered with elephant print overlays nodding to the locker room from that night. A tribute to the dads, the mentors, and the father figures who keep cheering us on.
Nike Air Max 95 Big Bubble Tech
Sergio Lozano’s 1995 design has been everywhere since the Big Bubble remaster hit retail last spring, but Nike has mostly stuck to nostalgic colorways. The Tech is the first real shakeup, swapping the gradient suede for a no-sew synthetic upper with raised lines that mimic the AM95’s anatomy-inspired panels. It’s sleeker, and a bit more modern, but still very much an AM95 at heart.
Nike Free Metcon 7
Technically an April drop, but the Free Metcon 7 is too good a hybrid trainer to leave out. The biggest update is a dual-foam midsole inspired by sashimono, the traditional Japanese joinery technique that uses interlocking pieces instead of fasteners. If you’re the kind of gym-goer who refuses to choose between dumbbells and sprints, this is the trainer.
