Nike x Virgil Abloh: See "The Ten" De- and Reconstructed Sneakers

September 7, 2017
Written by: news22
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After a summer’s worth of speculation (and a handful of outfit credits on Bella Hadid), Nike officially announced it was partnering with Off-White’s Virgil Abloh in August. Their collaboration goes well beyond remixing some sneakers. (Though, fear not for your neighborhood hypebeast: There are still plenty of kicks to cop.)

Dubbed “The Ten,” this collection sees 10 seminal Nike, Inc. silhouettes—including the Air Jordan 1, Air Max 90, Air Force 1, Converse Chuck Taylor, among others—reimagined through Abloh’s lens, presented to the public via two exhibits, hosted by the designer himself: one in New York and one in London. (Should you not be able to attend either conference, you can actually text your questions to Abloh—no, seriously: There’s a number on Nike’s website.) The experience is called Nike Off-Campus—and, as the collegiate title suggests, there will be a series of “classes” taught by friends and collaborators of the Off-White designer, such as Spike Lee, Shayne Oliver, Heron Preston, and more.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Nike.

Nike x Virgil Abloh opens up its pre-order in select cities the week of September 9, while the full “The Ten” collection is expected to drop worldwide in November. The capsule is divided into two groups: First, there’s “REVEALING,” which breaks up then rebuilds iconic Nike shapes in a way that’s wearable but distinctly Off-White; then, there’s “GHOSTING,” which incorporates translucent materials into these silhouettes to give them an almost ethereal look. “In one gesture, I wanted to underscore how the design system and manufacturing of Nike are so perfect,” Abloh says in a statement. “By combining these shoes with design that amplifies their ‘handmade’ quality, we’re intensifying the human element and expanding the emotional connection of these 10 icons.”

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PHOTO: Team GT

Bella Hadid wearing Nike x Virgil Abloh sneakers.

The collaboration came together in 10 months, which makes this design partnership one with the quickest turnaround in the company’s history. However, at a press conference held in New York to kick off the Off-Campus programming, Abloh told the audience gathered that he attempted to make changes to the collection down to the very last minute. “I was thinking about the kids on the Hypebeast comments, being like, ‘His career is over—throw him off the ledge,’” he half-joked. “I literally was trying to change shoes three days ago… That’s another bullet point that I want to communicate to young designers: Since nothing’s going to be perfect anyways, do it on the next one. Iterate. There are no wrong answers in design.”

It’s also the first time three different brands from the Nike, Inc. umbrella—the namesake, Jordan, and Converse—are all folded into a single collection, according to Andy Caine, Vice President of Nike Footwear Design, who joined Abloh at the conference. Of all the sneakers in the line, the Off-White designer told the audience assembled for a press conference that “the Chuck Taylor was the shoe that required the most amount of e-mails.”

At Off-Campus, Abloh explained how this project, in a way, was “career suicide”: “Sneakers mean so much to so many different people; designers have such discerning taste, especially now—anyone who can like a button or comment is a critic,” he explained. “My design career could’ve started and ended with this project.” According to Abloh, the genesis of The Ten was actually the Jordan sneaker; “I just asked a naïve question: I get it, it’s an Air Jordan—but where’s the air bag?,” he recalled. “So I grabbed an X-acto knife and punctured the sole.” From there on, he began incorporating elements from his “tool kit”: zip ties, illustrative text, quotation marks… all these visual signifiers Abloh uses as a means of finding a new way “to communicate in our post-American Apparel, super ironic” society. “It’s a little bit closer to Céline. That’s the goal in life—Céline is everything.”

Check out the rest of Nike x Virgil Abloh’s “The Ten” collection, below.