The Air Force 1 was produced in 1982 and discontinued the following year. It was re-released in 1986 with the modern italic Nike logo with a Swoosh on the bottom on the back of the shoe. Little has changed to the Air Force One since its creation in 1982, although the original stitching on the side panels is no longer present in modern versions of the shoe. Since then, over 1,700 color variations have been produced, bringing in an estimated 800 million USD/year in revenue.The selling of the Air Force Ones online by certain retailers is prohibited by Nike who has restricted supply of the sneaker.

Nike Air Force 1s were originally considered the favored shoe of inner-city youth, then hip hop artists and streetball players. Rappers Nelly his group, St. Lunatics collaborated on a 2002 single entitled "Air Force Ones" about the shoes. As a performance shoe, the AF1 is still used for street play as well as for professional play. NBA players Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse have used AF1s for games before.

In 2007, for the 25th anniversary of the original Air Force 1, Nike created the Air Force XXV, which got its inspiration from original Air Force 1 invented in 1982. A commercial for the Air Force XXV included LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, Rasheed Wallace, Tony Parker, Jermaine O'Neal, Amar'e Stoudemire, Chris Paul, and Paul Pierce, featuring the music of Juelz Santana (the Second Coming). Since its introduction, many different Air Force 1s have been designed or inspired by celebrities and athletes. This list includes Keelan Miller, Jay-Z, LeBron James, Rasheed Wallace, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and numerous others.