Nike Made an Air Force 1 That Starts Dirty and Wears Away to Become ‘Clean’
More than 40 years after it was first introducing the Air Force 1, Nike still isn’t running out of new ideas for the classic shoe. The latest innovation: reversing the process of aging.
The Nike Air Force 1 Low “Dirty Triple White” starts off cooked but wears away to become more pristine. An outer layer for its upper comes heavily distressed from the jump, but beneath it is clean white leather like you’d expect from a usual “Triple White” Air Force 1 straight out of the box.
If you’re patient, the shoe’s immaculate second life will come about naturally. And if not, you can scrub away at the upper yourself — Nike even included a toothbrush to do the job with early pairs that were sent out. It’s not clear, though, if the distressed sole unit can be polished the same.
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Nike is playing off of certain sneakerheads’ compulsion to keep their sneakers unvarnished, as well as flipping the script on its usual wear-away builds. On a not infrequent basis, Nike has made sneakers with a totally different appearance coming from their lower layers — but never before has it put forward such a dirty-to-clean arrangement.
In addition to the “Triple White” colorway, Nike has also done a “Triple Black” AF1 Low with the same “Dirty” treatment, as revealed from a card included with the sneakers revealed by Brendan Dunne of Complex.
Pre-distressing is, of course, far from new within the sneaker game, sometimes coming from fashion houses turning the concept of luxury on its head. White Air Force 1s that have been heavily worn, however, cause their own sort of derision among a certain set of sneakerheads.
The Nike Air Force 1 Low “Dirty Triple White” and “Dirty Triple Black” will release May 7 through the Snkrs app. Pricing is set at $130.
