What Virgil Abloh's Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 Means for the Sneaker Game

With the unveiling of Louis Vuitton’s Spring/Summer 2022 Collection, we were invited to look once again into Virgil Abloh’s crystal ball. Except, this time -- once the smoke cleared and the hazy image sharpened -- it wasn't his vision for a more democratic future of the fashion industry that awaited us.

Instead, it was a premonition on the future of sneakers.

Naturally, with the ever-divisive Abloh now firmly embedded at the helm of one of the world’s leading fashion houses, there were plenty of stand-out pieces in the collection that will have turned heads. What has dominated much of the conversation since, though, is a far more low-key element of the presentation: an apparent Nike Air Force 1 collaboration, coming with a non-committal response about their possible release.

Seen on the runway in a multitude of LV-monogram colorways, the sneakers are labelled with “AIR” on the sole and “LACET” on the laces. An Abloh signature, developed at Off-White, which feel like they turned up at the wrong brand’s show.

Obviously, this has nothing to do with negative ideas about the infusion of streetwear into high fashion. After all, this wouldn't make Louis Vuitton anything like the first fashion house to collaborate with a mainstream sneaker brand: Dior has its Air Jordan 1, Rick Owens has his Converse, Prada has adidas.

Where each of those collaborations gave us something interesting – for better or for worse, they were stand-out sneakers, clearly given the time and attention that the medium deserves – the LV x Nike offering gives us something else: an insight into just how happy brands are to put their names together without rocking the boat or pushing against type.

The sneaker feels somewhat like an afterthought. Despite a couple of great little details – like the opulent lining and innovative pattern clashes – it reads like something agreed in advance but ignored until a couple of days before the presentation. You can’t just slap a Louis Vuitton monogram on something and expect it to feel like Louis Vuitton.

Or, at least, you shouldn’t be able to. The idea runs counter to every integral notion of what constitutes high fashion: if we’re forced to acknowledge that the only thing which sets these houses apart from other brands is their logo, then what we’re really admitting is that we know there’s no difference at all.

In this sense, it also seems emblematic of the disintegration of one of fashion’s most distinct brand identities.

To give Virgil credit, it’s possible this was his intention: his ambition to reshape the industry is common knowledge at this point and plain to see throughout his work. Observers have also noted that the chop-shop feel of the design serves as a nod to bootlegging culture – something great to see acknowledged in an official Nike collaboration. Especially one at the highest level.

That being said, to sit in the big chair at Louis Vuitton and lean on design tropes honed at – and distinct to – another label, feels like a dilution of the LV brand identity. Not because Nike or Off-White aren't fitting companions to Louis Vuitton: far from it. They're both industry leaders in their own right with well-earned, worldwide reputations and huge fanbases of their own.

But an erosion of the borders between Off-White and Louis Vuitton effectively changes how both labels are perceived – bringing Off-White even further into the fold of High Fashion, whilst simultaneously pushing Louis Vuitton into the category of “brand,” rather than “house.” It's interesting to consider how loose those ring-fences can become.

In many ways, the Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 feels like an arbiter of things to come: a door held open to collaborations in name only. A quick and easy win for brands but a loss for the sneaker game. While we're still pretty excited to see what the future of the French fashion house will be like with Abloh at the helm, we're quite cautious, too.