Nike's Pre-Dirtied White Air Force 1s Are Insane, Right?
Nike's classic white Air Force 1 sneaker is a stone-cold classic. No improvements needed. But, actually, what if it came pre-dirtied, as if someone else had worn the shoe a hundred times before you ever stepped for in it?
Thus, the Nike "Dirty Triple White" Air Force 1 was born.
This sneaker, created by Nike's gaming-oriented .SWOOSH imprint, isn't inherently all that wild at face value.
Like, sure, pre-thrashed sneaker, whatever.
Golden Goose has been at it forever, Vans is consistently dishing dirty shoes (sometimes with tape!), and a handful of other sportswear labels have long since dabbled with destroyed-looking sneakers.
It may upset the sneakerhead equilibrium for Nike to be selling pre-shredded Air Force 1s but the concept isn't actually all that crazy. In fact, the wear patterns are quite remarkable in their realism.
No, what's really wild about Nike's "Dirty Triple White" Air Force 1 is that it'll actually get cleaner with wear.
There's a little plastic toothbrush included with these shoes that you can use to scrub away the pre-distressed detailing, which is merely printed atop the shoe's leather upper. Alternatively, you can just wear them and watch as the "dirtiness" wears away, though it won't reattach the loose threads on the AF1's Swoosh.
It's a proposition much in line with Margiela's painted shoes and jeans except applied to sneakers, which is what makes the whole thing so strange.
Whereas an admirer of progressive fashion might appreciate the unique wear patterns formed from the white paint applied by hand onto Margiela's denim pants, sneakerheads rarely appreciate cooked kicks.
The entire concept is made weirder by the fact that it was cooked up by Nike's .SWOOSH line, which most recently ideated the brilliant "Big Head Origins" Air Max.
A confluence of craziness that'll inevitably sell out anyways when it hits Nike's website for $150 on May 7.