In 2022, 40 years after the introduction of the Air Force 1, a culmination of the silhouette’s rich history was realized with the introduction of the Louis Vuitton x Nike “Air Force 1” by Virgil Abloh. Released posthumously, Abloh’s work perfectly tied together the decades of significance of Nike’s famous sneaker.

In total, Virgil Abloh designed 47 custom pairs of Nike “Air Force 1” for the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2022 runway show in collaboration with Nike. To distinguish them from the original Nike Air Force 1, the sneakers were made with materials used in Abloh’s Louis Vuitton men’s collections and styled with his iconic quotation marks, echoing the written graphics Abloh used to adorn the shoes. Each pair was manufactured by Louis Vuitton in Fiesso d’Artico, marking the first time the AF1 model was made outside of a Nike factory.

In January 2022, the first installment of Virgil Abloh’s Louis Vuitton x Nike “Air Force 1” hit the market via Sotheby’s, with a total of 200 pairs offered for auction in an exclusive colorway and an accompanying pilot case. A general release of nine additional pairs was launched in June 2022. This collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Nike has resulted in some of the most authentic high-end sneakers ever created.