In 2016, sportswear manufacturerΒ NikeΒ and fashion designerΒ Virgil Abloh joined forcesΒ to create a sneaker collectionΒ celebrating 10 of the Oregon-based companyβs most iconic shoes. With their project The Tenβwhich reimagines icons likeΒ Air Jordan 1,Β Air Max 90,Β Air Force 1, andΒ Air Presto, among othersβtheyΒ reinvigorated sneaker culture.
Virgil Ablohβs new designs offerΒ deep insights into engineering ingenuityΒ and burst with cultural cachet. Drawing on the genius of the original shoe using lettering, ironic labels, collage, and sculpting techniques, Abloh plays with language and sculptural elements to construct new meaning. Inspired by the wit of Dadaism, architectural theory, and avant-garde happenings, he analyzes what makes each shoe iconic and deconstructs it into anΒ artistic assemblage, makingΒ each shoe into a piece of industrial design, a readymade sculpture, and a wearable all at once.
IconsΒ traces Ablohβs investigative, creative process through documentation of theΒ prototypes,Β original text messagesΒ from Abloh to Nike designers, andΒ treasures from the Nike archives. We find Swooshes sliced away from Air Jordans and reapplied with tape or thread, Ablohβs typical text fragments in quotation marks on Air Force 1, and All Stars cut into pieces. We take aΒ look behind the scenesΒ and witness Ablohβs DIY approach, which gives each model in theΒ Off-WhiteTMΒ c/o Nike collectionΒ its own unique touch.
The book documents Ablohβs cooperative way of working and reaffirms the power of print. For its design Nike and Abloh partnered with the acclaimedΒ London-based design studio Zak Group. Together they conceived a two-part compendium, equal parts catalog and conceptual toolbox. The first part of the book presents aΒ visual culture of sneakersΒ while a lexicon in the second part defines theΒ key people, places, objects, ideas, materials, and scenes from which the project grew. Texts by NikeβsΒ Nicholas Schonberger, writerΒ Troy Patterson, curator and historianΒ Glenn Adamson, andΒ Virgil AblohΒ himself frame the collaborative work within fashion and design history. A foreword byΒ Hiroshi FujiwaraΒ places the project within the historical continuum of Nike collaborators.
Virgil Abloh. Nike. ICONS
- Hardcover
- Swiss binding
- 10 x 11.7 in.
- 5.12 lb
- 352 pages
- ISBN 978-3-8365-8509-5























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