Tag: Air Force 1

IKNO FIND 005 — Nike Air Force 1 Low Purple Skeleton

IKNO EDITORIAL · Published 4 October 2026
IKNO FINDS / 005The good stuff hiding in plain sight.
Archive Find / House of Sneakers
PURPLE.
DOWN TO
THE BONE.
The Air Force 1 Low “Purple Skeleton” turns the familiar Force into an X-ray of itself.
ModelNike Air Force 1 Low ’07 QS
EditionPurple Skeleton
Style codeCU8067-500
RetailerHouse of Sneakers
01 / The find
A DIFFERENT
KIND OF FOOTPRINT.
A white skeletal-foot graphic stretches across the Court Purple upper, following the shape of the foot inside. The Swoosh remains visible beneath the illustration, while matching purple laces keep the upper focused on one colour. It is playful, slightly unsettling and unmistakably an Air Force 1.
Nike describes this edition with a leather upper and a glow-in-the-dark sole. That second detail takes the Halloween idea beyond a printed graphic: the familiar outsole becomes part of the effect. Nike’s product description ↗
01
The bones
The white foot illustration gives the side profile its strongest visual signature.
02
The purple
A saturated upper gives the graphic room to stand out without changing the familiar silhouette.
03
The after-dark detail
The glow-in-the-dark sole carries the Skeleton idea from daylight into the evening.
02 / Find the pair
CHECK THE
SKELETON.
Explore the Purple Skeleton at House of Sneakers. Select your size on the retailer’s product page to check its current price, availability and delivery options.
VIEW AT HOUSE OF SNEAKERS ↗
Affiliate disclosure: IKNO may earn a commission if you purchase through this link, at no additional cost to you. Prices and availability can change.
03 / Why IKNO picked it
THE SHAPE STAYS.
THE STORY CHANGES.
The Skeleton graphic makes you look through the shoe instead of only at it. That is enough of a reason to stop scrolling. Find 005 brings a Halloween-minded archive pair into the IKNO edit, with colour, illustration and an after-dark detail working together.
Photo supplied by IKNO and stored in the site’s media library. Design details sourced from Nike. Independent editorial; IKNO is not affiliated with Nike.
BACK TO ALL FINDS ↗

October 4, 2026
IKNO FIND 004 — Nike x Kobe Bryant Air Force 1 Low Lenticular

IKNOTHE GOOD STUFF HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT / 004
NEW FIND · BSTN UK
SILVER.
IN
motion.
The Kobe Air Force 1 Low “Lenticular” makes a familiar shape shift with every angle.
ModelNike x Kobe Bryant Air Force 1 Low
EditionLenticular
Style codeII3925-400
RetailerBSTN UK
01 / THE FIND
A NEW
ANGLE.
At first glance, it is a silver Air Force 1. Look closer and the patterned surface brings movement across the panels and Swoosh. The white laces and sole keep the shape grounded while the upper does the talking.
01
The surface
A layered, reflective-looking pattern gives this pair its character in the light.
02
The silhouette
Underneath the finish sits the familiar low Air Force 1 profile.
03
The contrast
White laces and a clean white sole give the busy upper space to breathe.
02 / RETAILER CHECK
SEE THE
PAIR.
This Lenticular pair is publicly listed on BSTN’s UK storefront. Check the retailer for live sizes, price and delivery details before buying.
VIEW AT BSTN ↗
EditionLenticular
Style codeII3925-400
StorefrontBSTN UK
Price and sizesCheck live listing
SelectionIKNO editorial find 004
WHY IKNO PICKED IT
THE
SHIFT.
The finish gives this Kobe edition a reason to pause. It changes the energy of an everyday Air Force 1 without losing the outline that makes the shoe recognizable. That is exactly the sort of detail FINDS is for.
Product photo supplied from BSTN’s public product listing and uploaded to the IKNO media library. Product page checked September 29, 2026. Price and availability may change. IKNO may earn a commission from selected partner links at no additional cost to you. Editorial selection remains independent of retailer placement.

September 29, 2026
IKNO FIND 003 — Nike Air Force 1 ’07 LE Family Reunion

IKNOTHE GOOD STUFF HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT / 003
NEW FIND · BSTN
BLACK.
WITH
heat.
The Air Force 1 “Family Reunion” changes character as the light moves. Black from a distance; cinnamon and fire up close.
ModelNike Air Force 1 ’07 LE
NicknameFamily Reunion
Style codeIW2353-001
RetailerBSTN
01 / THE FIND
THE
SECOND
LOOK.
Most black Air Force 1s declare themselves immediately. This pair asks for a second look. The glossy leather shifts toward reddish brown in the light, while plush cinnamon laces and small orange stitches disrupt the otherwise dark upper. The black Swoosh keeps the familiar outline intact; the warmth sits in the details.
01
Light changes it
The finish gives a familiar color family unexpected depth instead of relying on a loud graphic.
02
Texture carries it
The soft laces play against glossy leather, making the material story visible even in a small photograph.
03
A quiet archive cue
Gold-colored AF1 lace jewelry and a 1982 insole detail nod to the silhouette’s basketball origin.
02 / RETAILER CHECK
SEE THE
PAIR.
BSTN listed this pair at €129.99 on its EU storefront when IKNO checked it on September 26, 2026. Choose your size on the retailer page; inventory and price may change.
VIEW AT BSTN ↗
ColorwayBlack / Black / Black / Cinnamon
Style codeIW2353-001
Shown price€129.99 · EU storefront
AvailabilityCheck live sizes at BSTN
SelectionIKNO editorial find 003
WHY IKNO PICKED IT
NOT
JUST BLACK.
It has the everyday usefulness of a dark AF1, but the color shift and orange laces give it a point of view. This is the kind of pair you might scroll past in a product grid, then remember after seeing it in person. That small surprise is why it belongs in FINDS.
Product photography: BSTN product listing for style IW2353-001, uploaded to the IKNO media library. Product details and price checked on BSTN September 26, 2026. Availability can change. IKNO may earn a commission from selected partner links at no additional cost to you. Editorial selection remains independent of retailer placement.

September 26, 2026
Virgil Abloh and the Air Force 1: He Made Us Look Again

IKNO EDITORIAL · Published 21 September 2026

IKNO / The people behind the pairs / 01
VIRGIL MADE US LOOK AGAIN.
The Air Force 1 was already an icon. Virgil Abloh made its seams, its history—and the people who wore it—impossible to overlook.
SAME SHOE. DIFFERENT STORY. SAME SHOE. DIFFERENT STORY.

Before the quotation marks, the zip ties and the runway, there was a person who understood what happens when an object moves between worlds. Virgil Abloh was the son of Ghanaian immigrants, raised around Chicago. He studied engineering and architecture, made music and clothes, and learned to read streetwear, art and luxury as parts of one conversation. That background matters here. The Air Force 1 was never only a blank white canvas: basketball players, neighborhoods and generations of wearers had already given it a life far beyond the court.
Abloh did not invent that cultural journey. His contribution was to make a familiar shoe speak in another register, then carry it into spaces that once kept sneaker culture at the door. This is the story of the person as much as the product. [Virgil in conversation] · [Museum biography]

01 / The method
A shoe you already knew. A way of seeing you didn’t.
In 2017, the Nike and Off-White project The Ten took recognizable sneakers apart visually and invited the viewer to notice their construction. On Abloh’s Air Force 1, the familiar silhouette became a field for exposed details, industrial cues and language printed where shoe design normally asks us to look past the making. The effect was immediate: you could recognize the Force from across the room and still find something new at arm’s length.
He worked by quotation, interruption and context. It was a designer’s way of asking who gets to call an object finished and who gets to change its meaning. The High Museum’s survey of his work shows the same method spanning fashion, art, furniture and music. The AF1 made that inquiry wearable. [High Museum]
The Ten / 2017A shoe made to show its own design decisions. Image provided by IKNO.
AF-100 / 2017A separate white and silver Air Force 1 associated with the shoe’s 35th anniversary—not the same release as the AF1 in The Ten. Image provided by IKNO.

IKNO / From the story to the shoe
OFF-WHITE.
AIR FORCE 1.
VOLT.
A familiar silhouette turned all the way up. The Volt upper, black Swoosh, orange tab and quoted “AIR” lettering bring the design details into full view.
CHECK HOUSE OF SNEAKERS →
Affiliate link: IKNO may earn a commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and available sizes.

THE POINT WASN’T TO ERASE THE ORIGINAL.
IT WAS TO OPEN IT UP.

02 / Beyond the product
He built stages, not just shoes.
Abloh’s runway work helps explain why these sneakers landed with such force. In his Off-White “Temperature” show in 2017, he invited artist Jenny Holzer to project poems about refugees; the show placed fashion in a wider conversation about crisis and responsibility. When he became artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear in 2018, his first show turned the runway into a vivid, public statement about who belonged in that room.
These were different projects, and an AF1 was not the centerpiece of every runway. The connection is his practice: collaborators, music, visual art and street references moved together instead of waiting for permission from a single discipline. That is why a sneaker could later make sense inside the vocabulary of a French fashion house. [High Museum: runway work]
IKNO perspective
THE PERSON IS THE STORY.
Virgil’s work made visible the hands, communities and conversations behind an object that millions already knew.

03 / The crossing
The Force enters Louis Vuitton.
Abloh’s Louis Vuitton and Nike Air Force 1 brought two powerful visual languages into one object. Nike’s basketball-born profile remained legible; Louis Vuitton’s materials, patterns and workshop tradition entered the frame. It was more than a logo swap. The collaboration asked what happens when a shoe shaped by street culture occupies luxury’s most protected space.
The shoes were shown in the context of his Louis Vuitton menswear work, and a 200-pair auction followed in January and February 2022. The pair and pilot case shown below represent that later chapter, distinct from his earlier Off-White Nike releases. The price and scarcity of these objects also make a real tension visible: an idea can welcome more people into a conversation even when its most collectible objects remain out of reach. [Sotheby’s auction record]
Louis Vuitton × Nike Air Force 1Luxury workmanship meets one of the most familiar basketball shoes. Image provided by IKNO.
The object and its presentationPair with orange case from the collaboration’s auction era. Image provided by IKNO.

04 / What remains
He kept the door open for someone else.
The work was personal in ways a product photograph cannot hold. Abloh shared resources through Free Game, a project offering young creators practical tools and a route into industries that often feel closed. His career showed a kid with several interests that they did not have to choose only one. He also used his position to invite other artists and image makers into the work.
Virgil Abloh died in 2021. No single sneaker sums up his life. The Force does, however, reveal a through line: take something the world thinks it understands, respect the people who brought it this far, and ask what new meaning is possible when more voices enter the room. At IKNO, that is why we return to the Air Force 1. Same shoe. Different story. [Free Game] · [Figures of Speech]

THE SHORT HISTORY
2017The Ten reframes the Air Force 1; the separate AF-100 edition follows the 35th anniversary conversation.
2018Abloh becomes artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear and presents his first collection.
2021His Louis Vuitton × Nike AF1 vision enters the house’s menswear story; Abloh dies in November.
2022Sotheby’s holds the 200-lot Louis Vuitton × Nike AF1 auction, January 26–February 9.

Research and image credits
Sources: High Museum of Art · Virgil Abloh interview · Free Game · Sotheby’s auction.
Portrait: Myles Kalus Anak Jihem, CC BY-SA 4.0; displayed in grayscale and cropped. Shoe photos supplied by IKNO. Independent editorial; unaffiliated with Nike, Off-White or Louis Vuitton.

September 21, 2026
Nike Air Force 1 ’01 Cracked Leather: September 2026 Release

IKNO EDITORIAL · Published 20 September 2026
IKNO RELEASE ARCHIVE · This story covers the September 22, 2026 release. Original retail and release details are historical; check current retailer listings for availability.

IKNO Release Watch · Air Force 1 ’01
Cracked
Leather
’01
September 22 · SNKRS

ReleaseSeptember 22, 2026

Retail$140

Style CodeJA0248-001

Release CalendarNike SNKRS Upcoming ↗

The Air Force 1 ’01 continues its return with a release that pushes the revived shape beyond straightforward archival colorways.

Nike’s Air Force 1 Low “Menta and White” is scheduled to release through SNKRS on September 22, 2026. Identified by style code JA0248-001, the pair will retail for $140.

The material is the message.

Color-blocked leather is paired with deliberately crackled textures, giving the shoe the appearance of a pair pulled from storage after two decades. The finish reads almost black in certain light before its dark Menta tone begins to show through.

That aged surface treatment feels especially appropriate on the ’01 silhouette—a version defined by the leaner, lower profile associated with early-2000s Air Force 1s.

Not restored.
Reintroduced.

This is not simply another vintage-inspired treatment applied to the modern AF1 shape. Nike is using the returning ’01 construction as a foundation for new material experiments, allowing the sneaker’s past and present to occupy the same pair.

The IKNO take.

The Air Force 1 has survived by remaining recognizable while constantly absorbing new stories, materials and cultural references. The Cracked Leather edition respects the proportions collectors remember without treating the 2001 version like a museum piece.

The ’01 rollout is not slowing down. It is beginning to show what this revived shape can become.

Explore the Release Archive → Read More from the Journal →

September 20, 2026
Nike Air Force 1 Luxe: After Hours

IKNO EDITORIAL · Published 5 September 2026

IKNO CREATIVE EDIT / AI-ASSISTED ARTWORK. ORIGINAL PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHS BELOW.

IKNO / THE LUXE EDIT / JA3822-010
AFTER
HOURS.
The Force changes its dress code. Black leather, silver hardware and a buckle closure bring a more formal mood to a familiar street silhouette.
MODELNike Air Force 1 Luxe
STYLEJA3822-010
COLORWAYBlack / Metallic Silver / Anthracite

01 / THE CHANGE
The closure
changes everything.
The Air Force 1 Luxe begins with an instantly recognizable foundation, then interrupts the detail we expect to see first: the laces. A broad leather panel folds over the upper, secured by two buckles at the outer side.
BSTN describes this as a more formal update to the silhouette. In the product photographs, the panel gives the front of the shoe a smooth, almost tailored surface. The familiar perforated toe and substantial sole keep it connected to the Force.

01 / THE CLOSURE — ORIGINAL PRODUCT PHOTO PROVIDED BY IKNO
02 / THE PROFILE
03 / THE HEEL

02 / THE PALETTE
Black leather.
A silver interruption.
The official colorway is Black / Metallic Silver / Anthracite. With the upper and sole held in dark tones, the hardware and small metallic Swoosh become the points of contrast.
That is what makes this pair compelling to us. It shifts the conversation from color to shape, sheen and construction. Light catches the leather panel; the buckles give the side a different rhythm. The design has presence without needing a large graphic.

03 / THE IKNO TAKE
A Force for
after hours.
We would build an outfit around the shoe’s proportions: straight or relaxed black trousers, a clean tee or knit, and a restrained jacket. Let the trouser hem sit clear enough to reveal the closure.
“After Hours” is our styling lens for this edition. It captures the way the Luxe borrows the mood of a dress shoe while keeping the weight and familiarity of an AF1. The result gives an everyday rotation another direction to explore.

BSTN / DIRECT PRODUCT LINK
Find your size.
Checked October 2, 2026: BSTN lists the Air Force 1 Luxe at €139.99 with size selections and an Add to Bag option. Check the product page for your size, current price and delivery details.
CHECK SIZES & PRICE AT BSTN ↗
Affiliate link: IKNO may earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Prices and availability can change.

Product facts: BSTN / Nike Air Force 1 Luxe JA3822-010. Styling observations are the IKNO editorial view.

September 5, 2026
THE ’01 SHAPE COMES HOME

THE ’01 SHAPE COMES HOME

Nike brings the Air Force 1 ’01 back to New York in white, blue and orange—connecting the revived early-2000s shape with the city that made the silhouette an institution.

Nike’s latest return to the ’01 construction brings that relationship back into focus. Dressed primarily in white leather, the Air Force 1 ’01 “NYC” breaks from the uniformity with Rush Blue and Brilliant Orange Swooshes, NYC embroidery and a “2026” mark across the heel. The result feels less like another Knicks-colored sneaker and more like a New York artifact built around a very specific moment.

BACK TO ’01

The more important part of the story is underneath the colorway.

Nike has brought back the 2001-era Air Force 1 construction, a shape distinguished from the familiar ’07 by its slimmer proportions and narrower toe. It’s a subtle shift on paper, but on foot—and especially in profile—it changes the character of the shoe.

That makes the NYC edition especially fitting. Rather than treating the contemporary Air Force 1 as another blank canvas, Nike is reaching back to an era when the silhouette’s relationship with New York was already firmly established.

NEW YORK, DOWN TO THE DETAILS

Blue takes the lateral Swoosh. Orange takes the medial. A miniature orange Swoosh sits at the base of the laces, while NYC branding appears across the tongue and heel.

The strongest detail, though, is almost small enough to miss. An embroidered 2026 sits toward the lateral heel, with an orange Swoosh cutting directly through the numerals. It turns the year itself into part of the identity of the shoe rather than simply stamping a date onto it.

Taken together, the details make the colorway unmistakably New York without relying on a giant city graphic. White leather does most of the work; blue and orange provide the recognition.

WHY THIS ONE MATTERS.

The easy read is that Nike made a Knicks-colored Air Force 1. The more interesting read is that Nike chose the ’01 shape to do it.

That distinction matters. The Air Force 1 has never needed New York branding to belong to New York. Its place in the city was built over decades—through uptown sneaker culture, neighborhood stores and the people who turned an early-’80s basketball shoe into something much larger.

Bringing the ’01 construction into that conversation gives this release another layer. Nike isn’t simply applying blue and orange to its most familiar white sneaker. It is reaching back to a particular version of the Air Force 1 and using New York to give that return context.

And the timing suggests the ’01 isn’t being treated as a one-off nostalgia exercise. As Nike continues introducing new executions of the revived shape, the NYC pair feels like part of a larger attempt to remind people that the Air Force 1 has had different proportions, different eras and different identities—even while the basic design has barely changed.

That may ultimately be what makes this pair worth remembering. Not the colors. Not even the embroidery. It’s the idea of the Air Force 1 looking backward in order to move forward.

NIKE AIR FORCE 1 LOW ’01 “NYC”
White / Brilliant Orange / Rush Blue
Style: JK5361-100
Retail: $140
Original Pre-Order: June 18, 2026
Delivery: October 2026
Wider Release: Fall 2026 (reported)

Originally offered through a limited New York pre-order in June 2026. Additional Fall 2026 availability has been reported; release details remain subject to confirmation.

September 5, 2026