The Nike Air Max 95 “Ashen Slate” Goes All-In on Blue Denim

It’s been some year for the Air Max 95.

Nike brought the “Neon” back, the “Pink Foam” restock was massive, “Granites” returned, and we’ve had everything from “Green Apple’s” to the OG “Grape”. Throw in a few collaborations and it’s hard to remember another recent period where the 95 has felt this important to Nike.

We’ve been spoiled, basically.

It also means it takes quite a lot for another Air Max 95 to stand out. Especially one without an OG colourway or a collaboration attached to it. But this one does.

The new “Ashen Slate” is covered in denim, with three different washes running through the layered upper. And having had these in hand, that’s really what makes the shoe.

The 95 has always been defined by those layers, but denim gives them even more depth. Going deep into the denim you can see the differences in the weave and colour from one panel to the next, moving through lighter blues before reaching the much darker Midnight Navy around the bottom of the shoe.

But actually, Nike hasn’t made everything too neat.

The denim has these frayed edges running through the upper, with loose threads visible between the layers. It gives the shoe a bit of character straight out of the box and stops all that blue from feeling flat. It should look even better once the denim starts to wear in.

Naturally, it reminds us of the Levi’s Air Max 95 from last year.

That’s a pretty high bar, but denim is now starting to feel completely at home on the 95. The silhouette already has all the layers to play with, so changing the wash and texture of each one complements it very well.

And, honestly, we don’t think this pair gives much away to the collabs.

There are some really nice details once you get closer up. The lace loops move through different shades of blue, the tongue branding fits nicely with the denim on the upper, and there’s a soft navy liner inside. Even the colour of the Air units is subtle blue.

How We Styled the Air Max 95 “Ashen Slate”

Styling wise, we went full blue mode and styled them with Nike’s latest Tech Fleece, which was an easy decision. We tend to reach for navy and blue before black anyway, and there are so many different blues in the shoe that there’s plenty to work with.

The lighter Tech Fleece brings out the paler denim through the upper, while the Midnight Navy towards the bottom of the 95 gives the whole thing some weight. Add the black Big Bubble midsole makes the whole thing forgiving, especially heading into autumn.

A denim Air Max 95 with raw edges sounds like it should be quite loud. But In reality, it’s ridiculously easy to style for anyone who wears a lot of Navy over Black.

And after a year of huge Air Max 95 releases, its great to see Nike moving away from the archive and just delivery a really, really good Air Max 95.

The products featured in the article include the Nike Air Max 95 “Ashen Slate” (IX0347-451), paired with the Nike Tech Fleece Full-Zip Jacket (IF1325-440) and matching Nike Tech Fleece Trousers (IF1323-440).