Virgil Abloh. Nike. ICONS

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Abloh discusses how growing up as a kid in Southside Chicago as a sneaker fan, he never imagined being a producer since he was a consumer. But that reality changed, and he wanted to make that apparent in his book. Underpinned by The Ten, ICONSexplores how the partnership works to unifyall the intangible cultural threads connected to sneakers. The book traces Abloh’s investigative, creative process through documentation of prototypes, original text messages from Abloh to Nike designersand treasures from the Nike archives. The book documents Abloh's cooperative way of working and reaffirms the power of print. For its design Nike and Abloh partnered with the acclaimed 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 a visual culture of sneakers while a lexicon in the second part defines the key people, places, objects, ideas, materials, and scenes from which the project grew. Texts by Nike's Nicholas Schonberger, writer Troy Patterson, curator and historian Glenn Adamson, and Virgil Abloh himself frame the collaborative work within fashion and design history. A foreword by Hiroshi Fujiwara places the project within the historical continuum of Nike collaborators. Keila Guilarte‘s photographs come from a visual reportage conducted between Cuba and Morocco from 2017 to today. Guilarte, who has always explored issues of identity and social belonging, presents artistic images capturing the daily life and beauty of people and places in Maghreb communities. Strong and contrasting lights, colors, and shadows take center stage in these shots, narrating the identity of a people. Simultaneously, there are images depicting Cuban life, connected to the photographer’s photographic memory and childhood. The exhibited photographs, part of her first book “Mi Tierra,” discreetly lead the viewer into the daily intimacy of the Cuban community and the inexhaustible energy of its people, who maintain their identity despite profound and painful cultural changes. Gianluigi Di Napoli, Cirque Du Soleil The Circus World Through Gianluigi Di Napoli’s Eyes

When Nike initially teamed up with Virgil Abloh to release “The Ten”, they took the world by storm. Capturing the minds of fans everywhere, they have since become one of the most prominent collaborative powerhouses in fashion history. From shoes & clothes, to art & music, Nike & Virgil team up to now bring us ICONS “Something’s Off”. I had seen both books online but when I was out I wasn’t shopping for them, and came across them both by chance. I was thinking about getting them for a few weeks, and decided that I’d go out and get them. In the event of a potential manufacturing fault we reserve the right to return the item to the manufacturer for further assessment.

What is the purpose of “ICONS”?

In conclusion, quoting the words of curator Francesca Bernasconi, «Federico Hurth’s photographs are characterized by an intriguing immediacy and an instinctive and decisive formal exploration, strongly linked to the revolutionary aesthetics that emerged in the 1990s through the work of a generation of photographers, often, like Hurth, straddling the worlds of fashion and alternative artistic scenes.»

I love to see what big brands have done with marketing, design and ads. I have always found it really interesting, even more so when it’s a topic or subject I really like.

What is “ICONS”?

Icons traces Abloh’s investigative, creative process through documentation of the prototypes, original text messages from Abloh to Nike designers, and treasures from the Nike archives. We find Swooshes sliced away from Air Jordans and reapplied with tape or thread, Abloh’s typical text fragments in quotation marks on Air Force 1, and All Stars cut into pieces. We take a look behind the scenes and witness Abloh’s DIY approach, which gives each model in the Off-WhiteTM c/o Nike collection its own unique touch.