Nike x Louis Vuitton 'Air Force 1' Full Collection

Designed in 1982, the Air Force 1, is arguably Nike’s most iconic and successful sneaker. In 1988, on the album It Takes Two, DJ E-Z Rock was immortalised wearing a Nike Air Force 1 basketball trainer altered by Dapper Dan with a swoosh adorned in the Louis Vuitton monogram. The cover embodied the hip-hop community’s early practice of hacking together high fashion and sportswear, highlighting diverging brands with equal reverence. A cultural symbol in its own right, today the Nike Air Force 1 serves as an objet d’art emblematic of self-generated subcultural provenance. For Spring-Summer 2022, Virgil Abloh collaborated with Nike on bespoke Air Force 1s, fusing the trainer’s classic codes with the insignia and materials of Louis Vuitton in homage to the hip-hop culture that shaped him. 

In total, Virgil Abloh designed 47 pairs of the Nike “Air Force 1” for the Louis Vuitton show in collaboration with Nike. To distinguish them from the original Nike “Air Force 1", the sneakers were made with materials employed in Abloh’s Louis Vuitton men’s collections, and were styled with his signature quotation marks, echoing the written graphics Abloh used to adorn the shoes. The individual styles designed for the show were made by Louis Vuitton in its shoe atelier in Fiesso d’Artico, Venice.

In January 2022, the first instalment of the Louis Vuitton x Nike “Air Force 1” by Virgil Abloh came to market through Sotheby’s exclusively at auction. Later, a general release of nine additional pairs released  in June 2022. This collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Nike has resulted in some of the most authentic, high-end sneakers ever created. 

Offered in this lot are all nine pairs that were made available to Louis Vuitton clients - the first time the complete set has been made available at auction. Of the nine pairs, seven are low cuts, two are mid, and all  feature classic motifs from Nike and Louis Vuitton in regards to colourway, material, and construction.