On Monday, Virgil Abloh’s Off-White and Nike released yet another addition to their collaboration that has dominated the footwear industry in the Fall season. The classic Chuck Taylor, featured below, sports a more traditional canvas upper, of course with the now-iconic markings of a Virgil Abloh design. In this way shoe differs aesthetically from its translucent predecessors, also swapping out red detailing for an orange sole/zip-tie/detailing combination. Finally, a thickly-striped black and white midsole anchors the shoe, a much more obvious show of Off-White branding. Still, it all comes together with the ‘CAPITALIZED TEXT IN QUOTATION MARKS’ aesthetic that has been slapped all over every pair.
Nike and Virgil Abloh’s collaboration has grown from the original “The Ten” silhouettes to an ever-growing assortment of footwear. The question now is, is it too much? I loved the direction of the original grouping of shoes, but as more and more bear the name, is the Abloh x Nike legacy diminishing? A similar question has been brought up with Kanye West’s Yeezy line, as the rapper himself has stated he wants ‘everyone to own a pair of Yeezys’.
In my opinion, these Chucks do not get close to making the cut with the rest of “The Ten”. They look like the generic drop-down, the fanboy version that the stragglers snag. Obviously, they still flew off the shelves, and have been seen on every Instagram influencers feet imaginable. But its just the same story, some words in quotes, minimal design, and
Below are the leaked images detailing ANOTHER (better, in my opinion) Off-White x Nike Collaboration, rumored to release this weekend:
Kickbeast 