The Nike Air Max 95 has become deeply embedded into Liverpool’s sneaker culture, where the silhouette has long carried the nickname “110” and developed an identity that reaches far beyond its original running roots. The name actually comes from the sneaker’s original price in the UK. When the Air Max 95 launched in 1995, it retailed for £110, a significant amount for a pair of sneakers at the time. In Liverpool, that price quickly became part of the way people referred to the silhouette, turning “110” into local shorthand for one of Nike’s most recognisable designs.
What started as a reference to a price tag gradually became something much bigger. The Air Max 95 found a particularly strong following in Liverpool, where wearing a pair of 110s became closely associated with local style and street culture. Decades later, the nickname has stuck even as the price of the Air Max 95 moved far beyond its original £110 mark. Liverpool’s connection with the silhouette became so established that the city is often regarded as one of the Air Max 95’s most important cultural homes.
That history sits at the heart of JD Sports’ 1.10 Day, held every year on 1 October, which becomes 1/10. This creates a direct link between the date and the nickname Liverpool once gave the Air Max 95. For the second annual celebration, JD Sports takes that connection even further with a brand-new colourway created exclusively for the retailer and inspired entirely by Liverpool.
The Nike Air Max 95 “Liverpool” takes familiar elements of the city and works them into the sneaker from top to bottom. Limited to JD Sports, the design looks towards Liverpool’s waterfront, architecture, heritage and local identity, creating an Air Max 95 that feels closely connected to the place it represents.
From Red-Brick Docks to the Liver Bird
The colourway is made in a Rust Factor and Steam colourway, with both shades carrying a specific Liverpool reference. Rust Factors draws from the red-brick dock buildings that have shaped the city’s waterfront, while Steam takes inspiration from the Liver Bird, one of Liverpool’s most recognisable symbols. The city’s waterfront is defined by a mixture of industrial architecture and monumental dock buildings, with the Royal Albert Dock particularly known for its brick, sandstone, granite, and cast-iron construction. The warehouses formed part of Liverpool’s historic working dock system, and their distinctive brick architecture remains one of the defining elements of the waterfront today.
Rust Factor appears through the lace loops and detailing, while the reflective section around the lower part of the upper receives a brick-inspired graphic. When the light hits the reflective material, the upper gives the sneaker another connection to the textured surfaces and repeating brickwork found throughout Liverpool’s docklands.
Inside, the story continues. The sock liner features a map inspired by the docklands and River Mersey, bringing the city’s geography directly into the construction of the sneaker. It means that even some of the details that remain hidden during wear still connect the 110 back to the city.
The Liver Bird
The second colourway, Steam, looks towards Liverpool’s most instantly recognisable symbols: the Liver Bird.
The story of the Liver Bird is inseparable from the city’s waterfront. Two Liver Birds stand proudly on top of the Royal Liver Building at Liverpool’s Pier Head, overlooking the River Mersey and forming one of the most recognisable silhouettes on the city skyline, The birds have become a symbol of Liverpool itself, appearing across the city and representing a connection between its maritime history, local identity and the people who call it home.
Their position on the Royal Liver Building also makes them particularly relevant to this Air Max 95. The landmark sits at the heart of the waterfront, close to the docklands and River Mersey references already build into the city. In that sense, the release brings several parts of Liverpool’s visual identity together: the industrial architecture at street level, the river running alongside it and the Liverpool Birds watching over the city and River Mersey from above.
There are also longstanding stories attached to the two birds themselves. One faces towards the city while the other look across the Mersey, with local folklore holding that they watch over Liverpool and its people and keep an eye out on ships arriving in the port. Whether taken as folklore or simply as part of the city’s cultural mythology, that sense of guardianship has helped make the Liver Birds such an enduring symbol for Liverpool.
Scouse Identity
Perhaps the most direct reference to Liverpool appears on the outsole, where “SCOUSE” is emblazoned across the sole.
The detail references a well-known, sought-after unreleased Air Max 95 sample that carried the same graphic, connecting the new JD-exclusive release with another chapter in the history of 110. It is also a deliberately direct expression of Liverpool’s identity. There is no need to decode the reference: it is right there underfoot.
An Air Max 95 Built Around Local Identity
The tongue continues the Liverpool references. Its logo uses a split graphic that brings together the original Air Max structure and Liverpool branding, placing the two references side by side. This adds the Liverpool details straight to what you see when you look down.
There’s another reference hidden behind the tongue, too. Inside, JD Sports has embroidered “0151”, Liverpool’s iconic telephone area code. Like “SCOUSE” the number has become another shorthand for the city, and its hidden placement gives the sneaker a detail that feels intended for those who know exactly what it means.
The Nike Air Max 95 “Liverpool” releases exclusively through JD Sports on Thursday 1 October (110 Day) in limited quantities.
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