The Air Max 1 'Head to Head' (Michigan) Is Inspired Concept Japan (CO.JP) Legends.
In 2021 Nike held a bracket tournament on SNKRS that put 16 CO.JP sneakers against each other, with one shoe left as the winner. The Air Max 1 'Head to Head' is the inspired by the top 8 contenders of that tournament. Dressed in Michigan colors, this shoe also features crocodile and snakeskin texture which comes from the Un-Tiffany Dunks and Air Force 1 Snakeskin Cocoa respectively. The Air Max 1 'Head to Head' releases on June 21 for $160 in the United States on SNKRS. Check out my in depth review including colorway, materials, quality, size and comfort. On feet and lace swap included!
Colorway (4/5):
The Michigan Wolverines colorway is close to perfect for me and is probably my third favorite collegiate colorway after UNC and Georgetown. I’m also a huge fan of Wolverine (the comic book character) so that helps. For whatever reason (I suspect licensing issues) Nike.com never mentions or references Michigan at all but strongly hints at it.
The midsole may look white in images but it’s actually sail/off-white/cream and is noticeable when you compare it to a shoe that actually has white midsoles.
Materials (4/5):
This shoe features a navy base leather layer and the leather is pretty nice (it better be since this is an Air Max 1 PREMIUM). You see the natural leather creasing when you press down on the toe box instead of that plastic looking crease pattern. Faux crocodile texture makes up the mudguard and heel counter which is inspired by the Un-Tiffany Dunk Low from 2006 (this shoe also won the 2021 CO.JP tournament). Snakeskin texture is seen on the Swoosh and it actually just feels like leather to the touch, I expected a much more textured feeling to it but in person it feels relatively smooth.
Like other Air Max 1s this shoe has a polyurethane midsole with a visible Nike Air unit in the heel and the iconic waffle rubber outsole. One important thing to note about this shoe is the ankle collar is made out of synthetic leather and not mesh like you may see in other general release Air Max 1s.
Size and Comfort (3/5):
I’m a size 9.5 true to size and I always opt to go up half a size for Air Max 1s. This shoe is a pretty narrow silhouette and due to the material used for the ankle collar, it may feel a little ‘slippery’ at times and reminds me of the Nike Dunk Low x Clot x fragment design which uses the same material in the same area. However, I don’t think it makes much of a difference comfort-wise but it does seem to make the shoe feel slightly ‘roomier’.
The Air Max 1 is a decent shoe comfort-wise with decent cushioning but definitely pales in comparison to 2023 shoes using modern foam technology. I’d still have no problems wearing it for an entire day and it performs well considering this shoe released in 1987.
Versatility (3/5):
The Air Max 1 is one of the most versatile shoes especially in casual settings. It’s still an icon and popular for a reason and it’s an easy choice when I can’t decide what shoe to wear. In terms of colorway I can definitely see people having a hard time wearing this shoe. It features two colors that are outside the norm of white, black and grey but personally, as a huge fan of the Michigan colorway and as someone who owns a bunch of Wu-Tang t-shirts that pairs well with the yellow on the shoe, I think it’s a versatile colorway.
Storytelling (4/5):
I really appreciate Nike.com explaining what the inspiration of this shoe is, however, it’s still not in enough detail as I like (just name the damn shoes you’re referencing!). If you do a bit of research, CO.JP has such an interesting story and really serves as the origin of modern day collaborations and I’m glad Nike chose to tell that story on my favorite Air Max. One thing I do have to complain about - for such a special shoe, how dare they give us a standard Nike box?
Laces and Box:
This shoe comes with navy blue extra laces, but I’m sticking with the default yellow laces. It offsets the navy blue eyestays and makes the shoe pop a lot more (there goes that phrase again). As mentioned above, the box of the shoe is a disappointing generic standard Nike box.