Louis Vuitton has announced plans to host an exhibition of the highly-coveted Nike Air Force 1 sneakers designed by Virgil Abloh for the French label’s spring 2022 presentation in Paris. The exhibit will showcase all 47 Air Force 1 designs included in the collection in physical and virtual form. The exhibit will include a pair of the Damier Air Force 1s, 200 of which were auctioned at Sotheby’s to benefit the Virgil Abloh Post-Modern Scholarship Fund. Valued at $3 million, the auction raised a total of $25.3 million.
A nod to city-centered 90s and ’00s sneaker culture, Abloh’s Air Force 1 silhouettes took inspiration from customizers who adorned Nike shoes with bootleg luxury label fabrics. According to Fraser Cooke, head of special projects at Nike, “For the Nike and Louis Vuitton Air Force 1 project, Virgil wanted to reference the customized versions that popped up in the late ’80s and early ’90s, which often incorporated Louis Vuitton fabrics repurposed and applied to the Swooshes and uppers of the shoes.”
Louis Vuitton is currently in the midst of accepting pre-orders for nine different version of Louis Vuitton and Nike Air Force 1 by Abloh. The nine different colorways include an all-white pair, two-tone, black suede, metallic gold and multicolor mid-top and low-top silhouettes, all of which were manufactured in Venice, Italy. Sized from 3.5-18, the shoes range in price from 2,000-2,500 euros.
The opening night event on May 20. 2022 will include a performance by 21 Savage and a DJ set by Jamie xx .The Louis Vuitton Nike Air Force 1 by Virgil Abloh exhibit will be open to the public May 21-31, 2022 at Green Point Terminal Warehouse in New York City. Coinciding with the exhibition, a number of corresponding installations will take place around New York City and the world.
