Designed in 1982 by Bruce Kilgore, the Nike Air Force 1 is one of the most successful shoes ever created. The silhouette’s cultural significance was immortalized in 1988, when DJ E-Z Rock appeared on the cover of the album It Takes Two sporting custom AF1s. The shoes, altered by legendary Harlem designer Dapper Dan, featured a Swoosh adorned in the Louis Vuitton Monogram pattern– an embodiment of “refashion,” the practice of hacking together high fashion and sportswear brands with equal reverence.For the groundbreaking first release of the LV Nike Air Force 1, an edition of 200 Louis Vuitton Nike shoes in an exclusive colorway were brought to global online auction at Sotheby’s in January 2022. Dressed in Louis Vuitton’s emblematic Monogram and Damier patterns with natural cowhide piping, each pair of exquisitely handcrafted Louis Vuitton Nike shoes came with its own orange pilot case in Monogram Taurillon leather. Prior to his passing, Abloh himself was involved in the early stages of planning the sale and its surrounding events. The LV Nike Air Force 1 auction was an unqualified success raising $25.3 million, with Louis Vuitton’s proceeds donated to The Virgil Abloh “Post-Modern” Scholarship Fund, which is dedicated to fostering equity and inclusion in the fashion industry by providing scholarships and mentoring for students of Black, African-American or African descent.In early 2022, news also broke of “The List”: a rarefied group of designers, athletes, musicians and others receiving exclusive “Friends and Family” pairs of Louis Vuitton Nike Air Force 1s. Big names, from LeBron James to DJ Khaled to Eminem, were gifted with Nike Air Force 1 Louis Vuitton sneakers from a lineup of eight select colorways. Each Friends and Family Louis Vuitton Nike Air Force 1 style – in black, green, orange, purple, red, Royal Blue, University Blue and yellow – features a solid-colored upper debossed with LV Monogram print, contrasted with white Swooshes, laces and midsole.
