The Nike Air Max 97 was first introduced to the public in 1997. The Air Max 97 was the first Air Max running shoe to feature full length Air Max cushioning. The Air Max 95 broke barriers by being the first to have Air Max underneath the forefoot and heel, but the Air Max 97 placed one long Air Max unit what went underneath the entire foot. The Air Max 97 continued the tradition started by the Nike Max 95 and Air Max 96 by having a prominent amount of 3M reflective material on the shoe. On the 95s and the 96s there were a few accents, but the Air Max 97 was literally covered in 3M material. This caught the eyes of many runners for making themselves that much more visible, but caught the eyes of many fashion forward eyes since this seperated the Nike Air Max 97 shoes from all other Air Max shoes.