> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.unknowndivide.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Air Max 95 LUX Italy: One Block Down Revives Nike's 2001 Made in Italy Air Max, and Finally Adds Sicily
- URL: https://www.unknowndivide.com/one-block-down-nike-air-max-95-lux-italy/
- Published: 2026-11-13T12:14:24.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-13T12:14:24.000Z
- Description: In 2001 Nike made an Air Max 95 in Italy, and it became one of its most refined shoes. Milan's One Block Down has brought it back in four colors, with Italian leather, printed gradients and a chrome Italy tag that now includes the islands. Here is what changed and which pair to get.
- Author: unknowndivide staff
- Tags: Style

Most sneaker retros copy the old shoe. One Block Down was handed one of the most collectible Air Max 95s ever made and decided to fix the map on it. The Milan shop, which has been running since 2009, has worked with Nike on four versions of the Air Max 95 LUX, a shoe that first appeared in 2001 as a Made in Italy edition. Nike's own launch copy calls that original one of the most refined footwear projects it has ever done. The new pairs come in Black, Green, White and Red, and each one carries a chrome hang tag shaped like Italy. The old LUX tag left the islands off. This one includes Sicily and Sardinia.

## What the 2001 Air Max 95 LUX was

The Air Max 95 started life as a running shoe built in layers, with wavy side panels shaped like an anatomy drawing over a visible Air unit. The LUX version took that frame, made it in Italy and treated it like a luxury object rather than a trainer. Twenty five years later, Nike still singles it out as one of its most refined pieces of footwear, which says a lot for a company with that many shoes in the archive.

One Block Down did not try to reproduce it stitch for stitch. Nike's copy for the Black pair explains the choice: one tone from toe to heel, so the Italian leather is the whole show. That is also the only colorway Nike is releasing through its own store.

![Nike Air Max 95 Big Bubble LUX x One Block Down Italy in all-black leather, side profile](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/41/254117cc-2631-4fb7-9f78-fa31eac12f1a/content/images/2026/11/nike-air-max-95-big-bubble-lux-one-block-down-italy-black.jpg)

The Black pair, SKU IM0704-001, the only colorway on Nike SNKRS. Image: Nike (official)

## Inside the Air Max 95 LUX Italy

The construction is where this gets interesting. Instead of the usual stack of separate side panels, the upper is a single padded leather piece, molded with the same flowing curves as the original. A light embossed pattern runs across the top of the upper for texture. On the Green, White and Red pairs, the color is a tonal gradient printed digitally straight onto the leather, following the curves and the stitching channels. It is brightest near the laces and fades to near black at the sole.

One Block Down is upfront about two details most brands would bury. First, leather takes printed color unevenly, so no two uppers will match exactly. Second, the leather is prepared and finished in Italy, but the shoes are assembled in Vietnam. So this is an Italian leather shoe, not a Made in Italy one like the 2001 pair.

![One Block Down x Nike Air Max 95 LUX Italy Green with a green-to-black leather gradient](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/41/254117cc-2631-4fb7-9f78-fa31eac12f1a/content/images/2026/11/one-block-down-nike-air-max-95-lux-italy-green.jpg)

The Green pair. The gradient is printed onto the leather, so each upper comes out slightly different. Image: One Block Down (official)

Flip the shoe over and there is a custom TPU window in the sole with artwork for the Air Max 95's 30th anniversary. It runs the green, white and red of the Italian flag through the Air unit, along with One Block Down graphics.

![Outsole of the One Block Down Air Max 95 LUX Italy showing a green, white and red tricolor insert](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/41/254117cc-2631-4fb7-9f78-fa31eac12f1a/content/images/2026/11/one-block-down-nike-air-max-95-lux-italy-tricolore-air-unit.jpg)

The sole insert, made for the Air Max 95's 30th anniversary. Image: One Block Down (official)

## Where to buy the One Block Down Air Max 95 LUX Italy

- [**Black on Nike SNKRS**](https://www.nike.com/it/launch/t/air-max-95-big-bubble-lux-one-block-down-italy-black?ref=unknowndivide.com)**:** the global release, out November 19.
- [**Green**](https://oneblockdown.com/en-us/products/air-max-95-lux-italy-green-x-one-block-down?ref=unknowndivide.com)**,** [**White**](https://oneblockdown.com/en-us/products/air-max-95-lux-italy-white-x-one-block-down?ref=unknowndivide.com) **and** [**Red**](https://oneblockdown.com/en-us/products/air-max-95-lux-italy-red-x-one-block-down?ref=unknowndivide.com) **at One Block Down:** listed on the shop's [release page](https://oneblockdown.com/en-us/collections/release?ref=unknowndivide.com). These are the three color pairs that tell the Italy story.

The shop is also running an in-store game at its Via Padova space in Milan on November 13, from 3 to 6 PM, with pairs and pieces of apparel as prizes. Entry is by [RSVP](https://www.eventbrite.it/e/one-block-down-x-nike-air-max-95-lux-italy-try-to-win-tickets-2004574723961?ref=unknowndivide.com).

![One Block Down x Nike Air Max 95 LUX Italy White with a grey gradient](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/41/254117cc-2631-4fb7-9f78-fa31eac12f1a/content/images/2026/11/one-block-down-nike-air-max-95-lux-italy-white.jpg)

The White pair, which runs from white at the laces to grey and black at the sole. Image: One Block Down (official)

If you like the idea of a classic rebuilt in better materials, our [New Balance 990 explainer](https://www.unknowndivide.com/new-balance-990-explained/) covers the American take on the same thinking, and our [Air Max Ecstasy Plus](https://www.unknowndivide.com/nike-air-max-ecstasy-plus-silver-black/) story shows where Nike's newer Air Max designs are heading.

**Our call: buy the Black pair on November 19.** It is the one you can actually get, and it is the purest version of the idea, with the leather and the reshaped one-piece upper doing the work. The Red is the showpiece of the four, and if you can get one from One Block Down, it is the pair that looks least like any Air Max 95 you already own. Skip it if you wanted a true Made in Italy reissue. That shoe is still the 2001 original.