Again in January of final yr, throughout Paris Trend Week, Alyx designer Matthew Williams teased an expensive riff on a pair of Nike sneakers: the long-lasting Air Drive 1. He took the beloved streetwear silhouette and did simply sufficient, including his signature anodized buckle alongside some shiny metallic textual content. Since then, the Swoosh and Alyx have launched varied colours within the sluggish, staggered method that has develop into customary for in-demand and limited-edition kicks. That has amounted to eight colorways of the collaboration in whole, of which you’d have been fortunate to attain a single one. However this week, Nike and Williams are dropping the whole collection in a single swoop.
It is easy to see why the Williams-designed Air Drive 1 skyrocketed to covetable standing. As a label, Alyx is thought for its high-end utilitarian sensibility, and that discovered a pure dwelling on this explicit sneaker. It is also a shoe that comes with some sturdy lineage. The basketball-inspired silhouette made its debut within the early Nineteen Eighties. Finally, it turned a beloved favourite by the use of Baltimore and New York Metropolis earlier than turning into a global road fashion icon. The Air Drive 1 has develop into a desired goal for collaborations—everybody from Supreme to Acronym to Virgil Abloh has remixed the fashion. But the design feels uniquely fitted to Williams. His contact brings the sneaker into the realm of luxurious trend with out shedding its powerful, minimalist core. All colorways reference traditional Nike tones: white and pink and black, with nods to the unique Air Drive 1 and the model’s historic “Bred” colorway. The restricted restock can be out there solely through Alyx on November 25.
The sneaker acts as a marker of time for Williams’ profession and his rocket-like ascent. When it debuted in 2020, the previous Kanye West artistic and Been Trill alumni was already effectively operating his red-hot label Alyx. Earlier than the yr was over, Williams would rise even additional in excessive trend, turning into Givenchy’s new artistic director. In all the things he does, Williams has typically stated that he designs the kind of garments and sneakers that he desires to put on. It appears to be working. Judging by the feverish reception the Alyx Air Drive 1s have obtained, he is not the one one who desires to put on them—and right here comes an opportunity to get a pair of your personal.
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