Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 Low 'Triple Black'
Colorway: Black/Black/Anthracite · Style code: 1A9V-BLACK-LOW · Release date: July 19, 2022 · Price: $4254 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 Mid 'Graffiti' (1A9V-GRAFFITI-MID) · Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 Low 'Multi-Color Patchwork' (1A9V-MULTI-PATCH) · Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 Low 'White Gym Green' (1A9V-WHITE-GREEN) · Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 Low 'Triple White' (1A9V-WHITE-LOW) · Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 Mid 'Triple White' (1A9V-WHITE-MID)
Abloh did not arrive at fashion through fashion. He was born in Rockford, Illinois in 1980 to Ghanaian parents, took a civil engineering degree at Wisconsin and then a master's in architecture in Chicago, and cited Rem Koolhaas and Mies van der Rohe as the influences that shaped how he thought about objects. Off-White, founded in Milan in 2013, was the vehicle; by 2018 it had displaced Gucci at the top of the industry's heat rankings and he had been appointed to Louis Vuitton.
That background is a better explanation of this shoe than any streetwear one. Calling it an art object is a claim about how it should be read (as a thing to be looked at rather than worn), and the construction is arranged to support it. Assembly at the house's Italian facility combines hand stitching with machine sewing. The upper is black suede throughout with the Monogram pressed in, so at a distance the pattern is invisible.
The swoosh is outlined in zigzag stitching in the same black. Tongue tags read Louis Vuitton Air, the heel is inscribed with the house logo, the laces are printed LACET, and AIR is stamped in bronze on the midsole.