Nike has teamed up with Air Afrique, the Paris-based collective rooted in the history of the West African airline of the same name, to create the Air Max RK61.
The project ties the Nike Air Max sneaker design to a story about travel, diaspora, and culture.
The RK61’s name is not accidental. “RK” recalls the original airline flight code, and “61” marks the year it was founded. The airline symbolised freedom of movement for newly independent African states. In 2021, a new generation revived the name, this time as a creative platform led by Lamine Diaoune, Djiby Kebe, Jeremy Konko, and Ahmadou-Bamba Thiam. They have been using Air Afrique to explore photography, cinema, literature, and visual art, all framed around Afro-diasporic connections.
For this collaboration, they returned to the idea of “Air” as both a physical and symbolic space. In a statement, Thiam explained, “Air Afrique, the airline itself, took to the skies to transcend cultures and newly independent African people. We also speak of Air as a symbolic, metaphorical elevation through culture and humanity.”
The design reflects this concept. The silhouette is pared back, elegant, and references aviation without being nostalgic. Nike and Air Afrique launched the shoe with Première Classe, a campaign styled on the golden age of airline advertising but reworked for the present.
Figures from sport and culture carried the story forward. Didier Drogba, Oumou Sangaré, Marie Josée Ta Lou-Smith, and Mme Daba Traoré, a former employee of the original airline, all feature. Their involvement highlights how diaspora connections span generations and disciplines.
The Air Max RK61 follows an earlier Nike and Air Afrique collaboration, the Air Afrique Football Club, which touched on similar themes of belonging and identity. This new release feels like a continuation, a second chapter in linking the sneaker world to wider cultural memory.
The Nike x Air Afrique Air Max RK61 will be available globally from 9 October through selected retailers.
