fragment's New Nike Sneaker Is Another Normie (Well, Sort of)
Hiroshi Fujiwara's fragment design brand is back at it with regular Nike sneakers. After cooking up the simplest Nike Air Force 1 collab to date, fragment design reveals a Nike Phoenix Waffle sneaker that — from afar — looks like an everyday Phoenix Waffle. Well, kind of.
Following a tease by Fujiwara, Jeff Staple blessed the internet with close-ups of the fragment x Nike Phoenix Waffle sneaker.
fragment's Nike Phoenix Waffle features the familiar arrangement of tough nylon and smooth suede for the upper, heritage details pulled from Nike's famed Pegasus and Waffle sneakers.
fragment's Nike sneaker is then topped with off-white and faint grey hues, joined by a crinkled leather Swoosh and lifted Nike heel tab painted in fragment's signature blue shade (the same color used for its extremely hyped Jordan 1 shoes).
Overall, the fragment x Nike Phoenix Waffle shoe looks much like the original, with a few fragment extras like the additional Swooshes and the recognizable "FRGMT" marking on the heel.
What is a little interesting is the packaging for the fragment x Nike shoe, which spells out "Nike By You" on the box. In other words, the fragment x Nike collaboration appears to be customizable through Nike's popular personalization program.
Right now, on its website, Nike has its standard Phoenix Waffle sneaker available for fans to design. But there are no signs of the fragment design collaboration.
That's not to say that fragment's Nike Phoenix sneaker isn't happening. With pairs seeded to famous folk like Jeff Staple, the fragment shoes seem ready for launch...and (potential) customization.
Nike's By You program has actually given us some noteworthy collaborations in recent years, between Cactus Plant Flea Market's fuzzy Blazer sneakers and Megan Thee Stallion's fiery but icy Air Maxes (both successful drops, by the way).
fragment sort of has a reputation for putting fans in the design chair. The evidence? The Fujiwara's brand previously delivered customizable Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers.
It seems fragment may be ready for fans to show off their design skills with its Nike Phoenix Waffle shoe next.
