Nike Air Max 90 Essential 'Cool Grey'
Colorway: Black/White-Cool Grey · Style code: AJ1285-018 · Release date: December 11, 2018 · Price: $190 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Nike Air Max 90 Essential 'Sport Turquoise' (AJ1285-001) · Nike Air Max 90 Sneakers (AJ1285-003) · Nike Air Max 90 Essential Sneakers (AJ1285-007) · Nike Air Max 90 Essential 'Black' (AJ1285-011) · Nike Air Max 90 Essential 'Bright Crimson' (AJ1285-012)
Cool Grey is the colour that makes this one work. Black covers the base and overlays, white runs the midsole and trim, and the grey fills the mid-panels so the layering stays visible instead of collapsing into a blackout. Three values, clearly separated, which is close to how the silhouette was colour-blocked in 1990. Nike sold it in the Essential tier, the standard leather-and-mesh construction, at $110 in December 2018.
The sole is unchanged from the original formula: a visible Air unit set into the heel behind its moulded plastic window, a two-tone foam midsole and a waffle-pattern rubber outsole. Grey-and-black pairs like this are the workhorses of the 90 range. They read as neutral without being plain, the black hides wear on the overlays, and the white midsole is the only part that needs cleaning. That combination is why Nike keeps a version of this arrangement in the line almost every year.