NIGO's Debut Nike Collab Is Surprisingly Luxury
NIGO's debut Nike sneaker is one of 2024's biggest sneaker collaborations and it hasn't even happened yet. Supposedly an Air Force Low 3, an Nike silhouette rendered obscure until it was worn by The General, NIGO's first-ever Nike shoe will be history, whatever it is.
It's been in the works for a minute: while NIGO's been designing runway looks for KENZO and streetwear collections for Human Made, he's been secretly developing an apparently extensive collaboration with Nike since April 2023.
Details of NIGO's Nike collaboration have been locked away like the personal treasures hoarded inside his massive storage unit. And all we've really seen from his upcoming link-up with the Swoosh in regards to sneakers is a a suspiciously novel colorway of the Air Force 3 Low sneaker that NIGO himself repped in November 2023.
Aside from that, the only collaborative apparel to surface from the collection is a red co-branded Nike x NIGO T-shirt worn by the designer for the finale of KENZO's Fall/Winter 2024 presentation earlier this year.
Yet it finally seems that leakers have gathered more details of NIGO's upcoming collaboration with Nike, revealing that the team-up might be more luxurious than we first thought.
For one, NIGO's collaboration with Nike is set to drop in Fall 2024, which feels feels seasonally aligned with the brown and earthy colors of the Air Force 3 Low he teased in November 2023.
Aside from the graphic T-shirt and Air Force 3 Low sneaker, NIGO's Nike line will supposedly include varsity jackets and crewnecks. This collection is looking like a real cozy situation.
The collection is rumored to be priced between 80,000 Won and 700,000 Won, or around $60 to $500. That means at least one piece in this Nike collection will cost a pretty check, no pun intended.
My bet is the marquee piece will be the varsity jacket, since varsitys released through collaborations with Nike retail around that price, like this collaborative piece made with Patta in May 2024.
It's interesting that NIGO's most interesting sneaker collaborations are centered on obscure shoes like the EQT Sandal and Nizza Hi. It's not like NIGO's adverse to popular sneakers.
He built BAPE's foothold within the sneaker space through his own take established Nike shoes like the Air Force 1 and his most popular collaborations with adidas were centered on Superstars and Stan Smiths made in collaboration with Human Made.
However, he previously told Highsnobiety that that he was afraid of tweaking classic Adidas models.
"They're classic so they're perfect as they are and there's not that much you want to change and to throw away what makes them special would be pointless," NIGO told us.
If there was any predecessor to NIGO's Air Force Low 3, it's NIGO's take on adidas' Rivalry Hi from 2014. Like the Air Force Low 3, the original model was a high-top basketball sneaker released in the 1980s. I guess for NIGO, ball is life.
