Virgil Abloh, the designer who predominated the luxury fashion industry with his ascent to the heights of the archaic fashion changed what was possible in fashion.
The refined artistic director of Louis Vuitton men’s wear as well as the founder of his own brand, Off-White, Mr. Abloh was a catalytic collaborator with outside brands from Nike to Evian.
He was an exquisite fashion theorist whose munificent and controversial approach to fashion inspired many in the ever-expanding universe of luxury.
He was the one person responsible for bridging the gap between the hypebeast culture and the luxury world. He incorporated the meaning of fashion itself in his designs. For him clothes were not just garments, but an irreplaceable iconography that expands its wings to art, music, politics and philosophy.
Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom, A man who left the fashion world and this world too early. MAY HE REST IN PEACE.
Nike and Off-White: “The Ten” was the most awaited baby of this collaboration of 2017. Virgil Abloh played with the anatomy of the Nike silhouettes. The shoes were dissected and then put back together with unique elements and second to none way of Abloh. The collaboration was rooted in the late August, however Abloh had been working on the designs since much earlier in the year and teased them throughout. The design process involved Abloh taking each individual shoe, breaking it down with an X-ACTO knife. He maintained the foundational silhouette of each shoe, but added small fabrics and panels and relocated parts. Abloh concentrated his design towards editing the stitching and tongues of each of the shoes.
Abloh designed each shoe to have a print on the inside of each shoe, reflecting the creative process and location of creation.
A key part of the creation process was adding the signature Off-White zip-tie that is attached to Off-White products. All the shoes in this collaboration featured the red zip-tie that wrote ‘zip-tie’ in bold white letters.
All the shoes in this collaboration had laces and the word “SHOELACES” in bold. Every shoe came with multiple pairs of shoelaces and in more than one color.
The Off-White™ “The Ten” project included sneakers from Nike as well as Nike-owned brands Converse and Jordan. From late October to early November in 2017, the first releases were split into two packs of five. The “REVEALING” pack contained the Off-White™ Nike Air Jordan 1, Air Max 90, Air Presto, Air VaporMax, and Blazer Mid. The “GHOSTING” pack included an Off-White™ Nike Air Max 97, React Hyperdunk, Air Force 1, Zoom Vaporfly, and Converse Chuck Taylor All Star.
The collaboration was teased on Instagram months ahead of its release.
Limited merchandise was available at “OFF-CAMPUS,” including T-shirts and tote bags.
Off-White™x Nike Air Jordan 1
The shoe features “AIR” typography on the midsole, as well as an orange hit on the heel, which seems to imitate a price sticker. The lateral Swoosh also appears to be pinned to the upper instead of fully stitched. Abloh penned individual slogans like “AIR FLACKO” for A$AP Rocky and “AIR CANADA” for Drake on the midsole of pairs gifted to celebrity friends.
Off-White™ x Nike Air Force 1
Abloh used an X-ACTO knife to dissect the shoes and markers to draw on them, and then gifted the sneakers to Off-White™ staff to wear.
Abloh’s “GHOSTING” Air Force 1 design was released in Berlin via a Nike SNKRS scavenger hunt, wherein SNKRS app users could use an augmented reality feature to unlock and purchase the shoe.
Off-White™ x Nike Air Max 90
The same design story continued here, with Nike’s Beaverton address shown prominently on the lateral side, along with “SHOELACE” text again.
Off-White™ x Nike Blazer Mid
On the Off-White™ Nike Blazer Mid, the Swoosh was once again exaggerated, extending to the shoe’s midsole.
Off-White™ x Nike Air Force 1 “AF100” (ComplexCon exclusive)
This reworked Air Force 1 silhouette was part of an “AF100” pack created to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Air Force 1 in 2017.
Off-White™ x Nike Air Jordan 1 “White” (EU exclusive)
Following up the original “Chicago” version, a white Air Jordan 1 arrived in March as a European exclusive. The shoe showcased the same design ethos as Abloh’s first Air Jordan 1, featuring an adjusted color scheme and a blue zip-tie in place of the standard red version.
Off-White™ x Nike Air Jordan 1 “UNC”
The third Air Jordan 1 to be worked on by Abloh, this iteration came in University of North Carolina colors, where Michael Jordan honed his craft before making the jump to the NBA.
Off-White™ x Nike Blazer Mid “Grim Reaper”
Unlike the Air VaporMax or Air Presto, both new colorways of the Blazer Mid came out on the same day. Following a Halloween theme, the black colorway was named “Grim Reaper” by Abloh.
Off-White™ x Nike Blazer Mid “All Hallows Eve”
The second part of the “Spooky Pack,” as it has been dubbed, was the vanilla/orange “All Hallows Eve” Blazer Mid.
Off-White™ x Nike Air Force 1 “Volt”
The other pair of Off-White™ Nikes to drop as part of 2018’s Air Force 1 pack was this eye-catching “Volt” colorway. Volt has long been a color of choice for Nike, and in recent times has become popular at fashion weeks and among the more fashion-conscious in general.
Off-White™ x Nike Air Max 90 “Bright Mango”
The Air Max 90 pack saw a bold beige/mango colorway drop alongside a more muted black/white iteration (below). While Abloh is likely to continue his Nike x Off-White™ work and release co-branded sneakers, “The Ten” officially came to an end with this release.
Off-White™ x Nike Dunk Low
Off-White™ x Nike Air Jordan 5
