In March 2017, Nike introduced “Sneakeasy” pop-up events in four major cities, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Toronto, to coincide with its fourth annual Air Max Day and the 30th anniversary of the Air Max series. Modelled on Prohibition-era speakeasies, these limited-access activations offered invite-only entry to immersive environments showcasing Nike Air’s past retros, present remixes, and future innovations, including the debut of the Air VaporMax

Each city’s Sneakeasy brought unique local talent while adhering to the core theme. In New York, attendees explored a Department of Nike Archives Air Max genealogy display, accessed early Air Max Day NIKEiD customization, and joined exclusive “Revolutionairs” gatherings—supplemented by satellite activations at NikeLab, atmos, and other partners. Chicago’s surprise-location event featured art installations inspired by “air” and “vapor,” live music, interactive photo experiences, and one-on-one VaporMax trial sessions. Los Angeles mirrored these elements with NIKEiD printing and VaporMax pre-order opportunities, while Toronto’s Sneakeasy (curated by Director X). "A window to what's next" paired a mobile Air Max Bus tour (dispensing golden tickets) with interactive installations by local visionaries celebrating three decades of key silhouettes.

Bryan Espiritu,

Artist and designer Bryan Espiritu rose from turning raw MySpace diary posts into the cult street-wear label The Legends League and has since woven that same unfiltered storytelling into painting, typography and poetry that confront trauma and mental health, head-on.

His large acrylic canvases and coded letter-forms channel a personal lexicon while fueling apparel design, a bridge between Toronto street culture and contemporary art.

Espiritu’s multidisciplinary practice includes hand-painting 13,000 letters across Gladstone House's vaulted ceilings and co-creating the 14-foot “Peace to the Past, Reach for the Future” monument for the Toronto Raptors’ 25th anniversary at Nuit Blanche and earning a spot on Adweek’s Creative 100.

Nike’s core objective was to deepen engagement with its sneaker community through experiential marketing, generating organic buzz around the Air Max heritage and the launch of the VaporMax. By blending nostalgic retros with cutting-edge innovation in clandestine, localized settings, Sneakeasy reinforced Nike’s design legacy, fostered authentic community connections, drove excitement and pre-orders for its newest releases.