Nike Air Force 1 Ng Cmft Lw 'Year Of The Snake'
Colorway: University Red/Black-Crt Prpl · Style code: 555106-600 · Price: $335 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Nike Air Force 1 Low Sneakers (555106-002) · NikeLab Air Force 1 Low 'Black White' (555106-003) · NikeLab Air Force 1 Low 'White' (555106-101) · NikeLab Air Force 1 Low 'Vachetta Tan' (555106-200) · NikeLab Air Force 1 Low 'Urban Haze' (555106-300)
Nike has marked every Chinese zodiac year with footwear for a long while, and the animal usually shows up as a material rather than a print. That is the case here. The toe box and the side panel are finished in a snakeskin-textured leather tonal to the University Red around it, so the scale pattern only becomes visible up close or at an angle.
Red and purple is the other half of the idea. Red is the color of luck in Chinese New Year tradition, and it covers most of the shoe; purple is used on the lining and shares the sole with black, which is where the palette departs from anything the Air Force 1 usually does. This is the Comfort low-top, Nike's cushioned reworking of the model, marked CMFT on the box. The $100 price put it in line with a standard leather Air Force 1 despite the specialty upper.