Why Patta’s Nike Air Max 1 ‘Wave’ Is Back

It’d be nearly impossible to have a conversation about the Air Max 1’s collaborative history without spending substantial time on Patta. The Amsterdam-based streetwear brand is responsible for a bevy of iconic Air Max 1 collabs from the early 2000s including its double “Cherrywood” collab with Parra in 2010, and two denim-clad iterations in 2009 to name a few.

After a hiatus from the legendary Air Max silhouette during the 2010s, Patta returned to familiar ground in a major way with a new wavy rendition of the 1. The new collection featured a completely rebuilt mudguard with a wave pattern running along the entirety of its midfoot. Four colorways first dropped in 2021 and two more quickly followed the year after in ‘22.

“It was quite a pinnacle moment because we hadn’t worked on the Air Max 1 for quite a while,” Patta co-founder Guillaume Schmidt tells Complex. “So for us to come back with that was definitely a special moment because it definitely put us at the top of Air Max collaborators, at least definitely for Air Max 1 collaborators.”

Now, five years later “Gee” Schmidt and his partner, Edson Sabajo are riding the wave again with two more colorways of the Air Max 1. First up, the orange and grey version with a black Swoosh (II7055-800) is set to drop on March 6, while the white and cream variety with an orange Swoosh (II7055-100) is set to follow with an Air Max Day drop on March 26.

“I think the orange is a little bit more specific, and then the white one is a little bit more democratic,” Schmidt says. “Since Air Max Day is quite a big day for Air Max heads and whatnot, we thought, you know what, that’s a shoe that’s more fitting to that specific day.”

A new wave of Air Max 1s isn’t all that Patta has up its sleeve with Nike in 2026. As we head into a World Cup Summer, Patta has a Cryoshot collab on the way as well that Schmidt confirmed will eventually release.

The real question is, will Patta work with the Dutch National Team on anything official this Summer?

“Let’s see. If we would have the opportunity to do something for the Dutch national team, we would obviously do it,” Schmidt says.

For more from Schmidt on Patta’s upcoming duo of Air Max releases, Patta’s plans for the World Cup, and much more, read the full interview that has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity below.

Every Air Jordan Releasing in 2026

It’s been five years since that first wave of Air Max 1s dropped. I’m in New York City, in SoHo, and I still see people wearing them almost every day. Talk to me about that original project, how it came to be, and what you’re most proud of from it.
Well, you know what? I love that we kind of put a little twist on a silhouette that’s so iconic. With the references and inspirations we had on that first thing, I think it was also a really great partnership with Nike. The designers from that team were just great. One of the head designers from Nike came up with the wave idea, and me and Vincent, we kind of took it and finessed it and went into detail and made it the shoe it is now.

How much pride do you and the team have in how successful that was? And like I said, you still see them to this day. People still love that shoe.
Before the wave, obviously we already did a pretty strong series of Air Maxes. And for us, it was quite a pinnacle moment because we hadn’t worked on the Air Max 1 for quite a while. So for us to come back with that was definitely a special moment because it definitely put us at the top of Air Max collaborators, at least definitely for Air Max 1 collaborators. So no, that’s always special for us, but we don’t look too much to the past. We’re more about the future all the time. But yo, you know what? An iconic version of a silhouette like that—once every couple of years you’ve got to come back to it and see what we can do.

You mentioned that a Nike designer originally pitched the wave shape. Obviously, we see tons of people collaborate on sneakers all the time, but not everybody gets the opportunity to physically change an iconic silhouette like that. You guys literally shifted the mudguard on one of the most iconic sneakers of all time. How does a conversation like that happen? How are you able to have that much trust from Nike, that they can let you change a shoe like that?
Well, we went back and forth. It’s like you want to do something, but you want to do it with a little twist, while still making sure that it has the excellence of the original shoe. So we kind of were going back and forth, and we pitched some ideas, and we went back and forth, and that back-and-forth ended up in this wave, like changing something around the mudguard. And that was a simple idea when you put it on paper and you draw it, but it becomes something really different when you actually have to put it on the shoe. So when push came to shove, we went at it. We cut paper, we worked with centimeters. It was real obsessive, detailed work to get this mudguard and this wave shape the way it is right now.

Since that original drop five years ago, there have been other colorways of the Air Max 1. There have also been the Air Max 90s. Now fast forward to 2026, we’re looking at two new colorways of the Wavy Air Max 1s. Talk to me about the decision to bring back that silhouette again and have two more colorways in 2026.
2026 is a special year for us. We’re going to do some really energetic and dope Nike projects. People are going to see more about this later on in the year. But as you said in the beginning, it’s been five years since the inception of the wave. So for us, that was a really great moment to do something again, also around Air Max Day, at least in the same month as Air Max Day, and just drop something that was also coinciding with what we were doing for the rest of the year.

Orange is obviously a staple color for the Patta brand. It’s something that you use a ton. It seems like these two have a bit of a richer orange hue than the original Wavy Air Max 1. What made you go with that specific shade this time around?
Well, you know what, Ben? To be honest, I can’t go too deep into it, but it also takes a little bit from the consumer and from the people to give it some thought. You can say, “Hey, you know what? How do we know Patta? Is it a company that always uses the same trick, or is there a reason for us to go into this specific orange?” Everything has a reason, and we like our colors. As we already did an orangey-type shoe, there must be some reason why we went for this. So we don’t want to pre-feed everybody with all the information upfront. The comments are the comments and stuff like that. But I would say, if this is the colorway, if these are the colorways, and you know Patta a little bit, and you give it some thought, you might come up with a reason why it is what it is. There are some nuggets in there.

Also, it’s a different materialization than the previous one. This is really buttery leather, and especially on the white one, you’re going to see it. It’s a really soft, super smooth, dope leather. You’ll see some wrinkles here and there, but that’s part of this buttery leather style. So no, it’s intentional. The colors are intentional. The materials are intentional. And also things like the silver mesh, for us, for instance, that’s also intentional. That’s part of the original wave concept, which is a reference to the Prada America’s Cup shoes that we love so much. The Cups, so to speak, the original ones. So that’s like a little nod to that specific era, and those are all elements that you will see when you see the wave pairs coming back.

You said the Prada America’s Cup, right?
Yeah, the Prada America’s Cup was one of the references for the original ones. Obviously you have the Aqua Noise, you have the Monarch, and if you look closely at the shoe, it’s like the silver with a hard color pop. That’s kind of a reference to that. Yeah.

The orange and gray pair is dropping first, and then you’re saving the white and orange one for Air Max Day. Yeah. How did you come up with that decision? Why the orange first and then the white for Air Max Day?
I think the orange is a little bit more specific, and then the white one is a little bit more democratic, I would say. So since Air Max Day is quite a big day for Air Max heads and whatnot, we thought, you know what, that’s a shoe that’s more fitting to that specific day. And then the orange one kind of needs standalone energy. So yeah, we stick with that. Also, it’s very close to Edson’s birthday, the release date. So that’s nice. Edson loves his colors.

You alluded to this a little bit earlier, but in the pantheon of Air Max collaborators, it’d be hard to find somebody with more prestige than Patta. What is it about Patta and Air Max that just goes together so well?
It’s definitely a shoe that resonates very well with, I would say, the Netherlands, but also Europe. You go to France, you go to the UK, but also definitely here in Amsterdam. In Europe, it’s just a staple shoe. I would say the closest thing to the Air Force 1 in the US, maybe. So Air Max 1 is just a staple shoe. Everybody rocks it. A lot of people have it.

Patta always seems to obsess the hardware and accessories that come along with their shoes. For the DN8s, there was that buckle clasp on the laces. Obviously for the Air Max 1s, there’s the charms. Are the charms coming back for these releases as well?
Yeah, there’s a charm. In the first release, it was a silver charm. On this second one, we did a gold charm—five years with the wave. It’s also close to our heritage. So the charm kind of represents a similar feel to a Surinamese chain that a lot of Surinamese people have and know, which is called the Alacondre. It’s a reference to that. There’s also a Surinamese flag on it. And orange is obviously also the color that represents the Netherlands.

Since we are children of the diaspora, but also a Black-owned company—especially in the world we live in today—we think it’s very important to emphasize our roots, but also be proud that we are from Amsterdam and from the Netherlands. This is actually our rightful place to do this, because this is the new way of looking at the buildup of a country. Not everybody looks the same.

Rollout strategies for sneakers are obviously always a huge thing—leaks, all that. You guys kind of took this one into your own hands by showing the sneakers first on your Instagram and then dropping that video teaser. Talk to me about building a rollout strategy for a shoe like this and how you came up with the strategy you’ve deployed here.
You have different strategies for different silhouettes and different projects. Obviously the Air Max 1 and Patta have such a loaded history. So I think it’s only proper that me and Edson, as the founders of Patta, are the first ones to show it.

In this day and age, stuff gets leaked all the time. And you only get one first impression. So by showing it ourselves, we literally took control into our own hands and made sure that the way we showed the shoe was appropriate to how we thought it looked best. So that was a conscious decision.

You mentioned other iconic Air Max 1s that you guys have worked on. You brought the Chlorophylls back out of the vault. We’ve seen Nike doing that more and more. Do you think there’s ever a world in which other legendary Patta collabs might return?
We’re living in a different world now compared to when those original sets of Air Maxes came out. Back then, we made 250 or 500 or 1,000 pairs. And at that time, those were numbers that made us nervous. Like, damn, are we going to sell 500 shoes? What if we don’t?

Exclusivity and scarcity are great, but at the same time, we’re an independent company. We’ve got to eat. If anyone’s going to benefit from something we built and invested in, why not us? We’ll always create new things too. But we make decisions based on what we like and what’s healthy for our business.

So you’re telling me there’s a chance I’ll be able to get my hands on some Cherrywoods?
Wow, you’re going for the gold right away. Listen, the Cherrywood technically isn’t our shoe. Parra decides that one. But never say never.

It’s a World Cup year, 2026. What do you have cooking up for the orange?
Something might be coming. I’m not a hundred percent sure. What do you think? The Dutch team will be at the World Cup, that’s for sure. The Dutch Antilles made it, and Suriname still has a chance. There’s more to it. Let’s see. If we would have the opportunity to do something for the Dutch national team, we would obviously do it, but let’s see. Let me ask you this. If we would do something, what would you like to see? 

I’m not just saying this, orange is my favorite color. Everybody at Complex always makes fun of me for it. If there’s a shoe that has orange on it, I’m all about it. So I mean, listen, a jersey, a practice kit, I don’t know, something with the Patta logo and some orange, that’s it for me.
So this orange shoe was a good one for you then?

Yeah man, these are great. So, I’ve seen some leaks out there of this Mercurial boot with the Patta wave on it. Is that real? What can you tell me?
I think the shoe’s name is Cryoshot. And my son’s been wearing them at a game. So yeah, they’re real. They’re hella real. What else do you want to know?

Are they coming during the World Cup? When can we expect to see those?
I can’t give exact dates, but they should come in. First we’re dealing with these Air Max 1s, and then it’s a football cleat with an Air sole around it. So yeah, it should be here this year for sure. 

Last thing — rank your top five Patta collabs.
Top five… that’s tough. Let me think. My favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite. All right, let me go. Let me say it. I think one of my most favorite ones is the Jordan 7. It’s super special to me, because I used to play basketball, so let’s put that one for just argument’s sake on number 1. It was super special to me that I could do that shoe. The Air Max 90/95 was ahead of its time. When you look at it now, and still to this day, me looking at those shoes, I think, damn, that was hot. Also, the campaign was amazing. We made a book with it and everything like that. So I love those two. I love what we did with Mephisto. The Kangaroos boot. At a certain point, even Kanye West was wearing those joints. And that was one of the first shoes that we really … We went to the archive and we kind of built that shoe ourselves. And then another one that I’m just going to mention, just to fuck with people, is the DN8. I love those shoes, man. The pattern letter, the silver mesh, the colors. The DN8 has its trajectory as what it is, but I am pretty sure that in a couple of years from now, it’s going to be a classic one.