There’s an immensely strong bond between the iconic Safari pattern and the city of Paris, at least according to Nike. We’ve seen the dotted pattern occur across a number of footwear models made to celebrate the Paris Games, from the SB Dunk Low to the GT Hustle 3. While it’s not entirely clear what connection is, Nike is at least bringing the shoe that originated the plot back to the market.
It’s not entirely clear what the connection between the print and Olympic host it. By our recollection, Tinker Hatfield created the pattern based off a couch he saw on display at a furniture store in New York City. He was looking to make an athletic shoe with premium, almost luxury-like details, so he flew to the Big Apple for some inspo. It was there he saw a couch upholstered with ostrich skin, and the resulting “Safari” print is just his own interpretation of the textile.
Safari has gone on to be one of the most iconic visual cues in Nike history. We’ve seen it across a number of lifestyle models, some of them rabidly coveted. Japan’s atmos deserves a lot of credit for re-introducing it to the sneaker community via their Air Max 1 collaboration in 2002, because it made its way on a number of other Nike classics such as the Air Presto, Air Foamposite One, and even the SB Dunk — twice.
It’s worth mentioning that the Air Safari made a considerable comeback in 2018 in the original colorway, and the quality was quite impressive.
For now, you can expect the Nike Air Safari to return to SNKRS on July 19th, 2024 for $140.
