Nike Combines the VaporMax and Air Max 97

Nike will be liberal with the VaporMax tooling going forward, pairing the bubbly sole unit with all sorts of uppers. Not all of those will be new—these leaked images depict a hybrid style that uses VaporMax cushioning with the upper of the Air Max 97, a shoe that's gotten plenty of attention in its 20th anniversary year.

Before the arrival of these images, there was already talk of such a shoe happening. Early rumors suggest that a gold version in line with the original gold Nike Air Max 97 will release in 2018.

This silhouette, which looks like it could be a grade school shoe, is actually not far off from one of the concept Air Max designs from Nike's 2017 Vote Forward contest.