As March comes to an end each year, it means two things:

1. There have been a countless number of Air Maxes worn throughout Air Max Month
2. Nike put together an amazing activation celebrating Air Max Day and the latest innovations in its Air Max line.

In the past few years, we’ve seen the likes of the VaporMax and the Air Max 270 release in March and be celebrated throughout the month. In 2019, the new silhouette that was the main attraction was the Air Max 720.

This year, Nike presented The Department of Unimaginable, a community-based Nike Air inspired, design curriculum hosted by Nike designers, collaborators and friends in 12+ cities around the globe from March 22 – April 21. The Toronto activation, which was open to the public from March 29 – March 31 at 1071 King Street West, was put divided into three days with each day focusing on a unique design curriculum:

• Friday – Design On Air Workshop: Put on by Toronto-based trio Liam Goslett, Quinn Johnsen and Michael Chiu, multi-disciplinary creatives with a passion for the creative process, together created Red Planet Studio Jesse Ingalls, widely known as Uncle Jesse or JRo is a sneaker guy, and makes his living taking pictures of shoes — looking at footwear from an analytical lens and wondering how he can manipulate footwear to make them Truer to who he is as a person.
• Saturday – Art on Air Workshop: Run by multimedia artist Diana Lynn VanderMeulen, this workshop will focus on Diana’s work investigating the mysterious elements of our natural world, through the selective vision of magical realism. Her objective: provoke the subconscious.
• Sunday – Photography on Air Workshop: Vonny Lorde made her wave on the photography scene through her raw and authentic content capturing. A self-taught freelancer, she specializes in both analog and digital photography. Her overall goal is to help document the young creatives of Toronto and inspire others to embrace imperfections. She hopes to leave her mark in the fashion and music industry with her photos.

As you enter the activation space, you will be able to walk through numerous rooms where the Nike Air technology is showcased in a creative manner with each room looking to tap a different sense and emotion. The Nike Toronto team also tapped the homies from Canada Got Sole to showcase some of the most iconic Air Max designs ever, a historic walkthrough of arguably the 6 Air Max silhouettes which best represents the growth and evolution of the Nike Air technology.

I was fortunate enough to have secured a class on the first day for the Design on Air Workshop and the experience was unforgettable, from beginning until the end. The class started off as we entered the back room after walking through the entire activation and alongside some of Toronto’s best creatives, we were all tasked with being as creative as we can using all of the design elements we were surrounded by on an Air Max 1 skeleton silhouette constructed of wires.

It was quite an experience to see all of the different creations that came to life during this session. Throughout the weekend, I saw even more creations come to life on social media in each of the different classes and it was fascinating to see how the Nike team was able to use the different design curriculums to curate an unforgettable experience for all attendees.

If you are looking to check out Nike Toronto’s Department of Unimaginable activation, you can register through JoinTheDepartment.com and reserve a time slot after answering three questions all Air Max fans should easily know the answers to!