The late artistic director of Louis Vuitton conceptualized 47 pieces for the collaboration, just in time for the 40th anniversary of the Air Force 1 range.
In Virgil Abloh‘s interview with Naomi Campbell for British Vogue, the supermodel asked the artistic director, “How did you get this job?”.
His response? “I dreamt about it. I willed it into fruition.”
Almost four years after the interview and six months into his passing, his words live on.
The Exhibition
The Louis Vuitton and Nike “Air Force 1” Exhibition at Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse in New York City is a dreamy experience not just for the sneakerheads, but for art and fashion lovers as well.
Abloh is known for marrying hip-hop into fashion and opening the discourse of blurring the definitions of high-end and low-end in the world.
Taking inspiration from his vision and his affinity for childlike, dreamy reality, the exhibition is an imaginary city with cloud-painted walls and a treehouse as the centerpiece. The interior of the said treehouse recreates the Louis Vuitton studio and atelier at Rue du Pont-Neuf, in Paris.
Extensions of the main exhibition featuring large, glass boxes with graphic globe structures will also be at Domino Park, Grand Central, South Street Seaport, Astor Place, Columbus Circle, Flatiron Plaza and Gansevoort Plaza.
The exhibition runs from May 20 to 31.
The Shoes
All 47 pieces showcase the artistry in the creation of the Maison’s items and Abloh’s expertise in design. Louis Vuitton’s Manufacture in Fiesso d’Artico in Venice, Italy, housed the manufacturing of the footwear.
Meanwhile, nine of out the 47 designs were showcased in the Spring-Summer 2022 Collection last June 2021. The shoes will be released this June in the global market, with the Maison’s community getting a pre-order privilege for the said pieces. These editions will be available from mid-tops to low-tops, and from Size 3.5 to 18.
Here is a look on each sneaker:
white mid and low-top in Monogram embossed plain calf leather
black low top in Monogram embossed calf suede
white and gym green low-top in a trompe-l’oeil canvas
executed in printed Monogram leather and Monogram embossed calf leather
white and comet red low-top in a trompe-l’oeil canvas
executed in printed Monogram leather and Monogram embossed calf leather
white and team royal blue low-top in a trompe-l’oeil canvas
executed in printed Monogram leather and Monogram embossed calf leather
gold low-top in Monogram embossed metallic canvas
silver and multi-colour patchwork low-top in Monogram embossed
calf suede and monogram embossed metallic canvas
sail and multicolor mid-top in Damier leather with an Azur graffiti print
(available in sizes 5 to 18)
Seen by Virgil Abloh as an “objet d’art emblematic of self-generated cultural provenance”, the Air Force 1’s are what he considered as a sample of the Amen Break—a drum break made in 1969 by The Winstons, funk-soul group. Just as the Amen Break has been a foundation four hip-hop and jungle tracks, Abloh explains, “The ‘Air Force 1’ is a sample like the Amen Break. A t-shirt is an ‘Amen Break’, a suit is an ‘Amen Break’. We’re all iterating on the same ideas. But, in my canon, the ”Air Force 1” puts the edge on the blade. This object happened way before me, but to get to a context where it’s adjacent to the t-shirt and the suit, its logic has been forty years in the making.”
