louis vuitton x nike air force 1
virgil abloh has a very successful history with streetwear, given his own brand, off-white, being one of the most sought after streetwear, luxury names in fashion. nike has limited crossover in to luxury, but very recognizable key pieces. bringing in louis vuitton and its codes to one of the most recognizable nike shoes, the air force 1s, was a slam dunk idea for the sneaker giant.
streetwear has overwhelmingly been confused for athleisure in recent years. additionally, athleisure has become a cash cow for many retail companies in recent years. a challenge i foresee nike & lv experiencing is a weary consumer who has been force-fed athleisure more than ever following the recent covid pandemic. while this was a beautiful artistic homage, collaborations between athletic companies and luxury brands have been occuring more and more frequently that this collaboration was here as quickly as it was gone. customers are not following season cycles or trends because fashion has become too fast to follow. this collaboration has easily been lost & forgotten in the minds of the majority of consumers because of the pace of the fashion industry.
there will also be resistance from the customer who knows air force 1s range from $90-$120 usd, and lv air force 1s are, at minimum, $2750 usd. i believe the premium for these sneakers is only targeting sneaker collectors, thus sales will be limited. the collaboration was more of a statement for nike and homage to virgil, not focused on sales but rather market positioning and strategy.
the premium pricing comes from the man hours required to create custom lv leather detailing and stitch them to the AF1s. to make these af1s more commercially successful, i would have substituted details from the af1s with lv leather but not re-do the entire shoe. this would allow less time per shoe and more shoes produced, at a lower price point. i would have perhaps only lv-ed the nike swoosh and shoelaces, or the tongue of the sneaker, instead of wrapping the entire shoe.
