Nike and Zellerfeld unveil first Air Works Program prototype: a one-piece 3D-printed sneaker by designer Motoi Hatsuki

Nike and additive manufacturing partner Zellerfeld revealed the first public prototype from Nike's Air Works Program, a one-piece 3D-printed sneaker designed by Motoi Hatsuki of Blue Room. The shoe removes traditional stitching and overlays for a slip-on silhouette referencing the Air Max 1000 and Tailwind V, with exaggerated heel and forefoot Air units, a glowing neon yellow rear bubble, and a paisley-textured side panel. Air Works brought eight global creatives to Nike's Beaverton headquarters to work directly with Nike engineers, with each participant receiving a limited friends-and-family run and previews continuing ahead of Air Max Day 2027.

For Zellerfeld, the prototype extends a manufacturing relationship that already spans the relaunched Air Max 1000 and multiple Airmax 1000.2 colorways released earlier in 2026. Folding Air Works into that arrangement moves Zellerfeld from producing repeatable retail SKUs to supporting one-off creator concepts alongside Nike's own engineers, a broader production role than a single co-branded silhouette. It also keeps Zellerfeld attached to a full year of Nike creative moments without Nike committing to volume manufacturing, which matters for a company whose commercial case still rests on proving one-piece 3D-printed footwear can scale past prototype and small-batch runs.