This week saw some massive news hit the table: leaks of upcoming collaborations between Jordan Brand and Virgil Abloh’s OFF-WHITE (or Billie Eilish for that matter), rumours of partnerships between Fragment, sacai and Nike (which we can’t really get our head around, but more on that later) and some big releases.

THIS WEEK’S NEWS

JORDAN BRAND X BILLIE EILISH

The Ocean Eyes singer and musician is expected to be partnering up with Jordan to release two sneakers (at least). The Air Jordan KO sees a monochromatic “Ghost Green” finish with her signature stick figure Blohsh logo on the tongue tab, while there’s also whispers of an Air Jordan XV – long heralded as the ugliest of all Air Jordan models ever – which will no doubt see similar styling under Billie’s unique direction. She spoke on the 15 a couple years ago on Sneaker Shopping with Joe La Puma, saying that “people fucking hate that shoe, but it’s my favourite”.

billie eilish air jordan ko — pvasneakers / zsneakerheadz ©

JORDAN BRAND X OFF-WHITE

Virgil Abloh takes on the Air Jordan 2 – which was designed in 1986 and hated so much by Jordan that he considered leaving Nike in ‘88 – before Tinker Hatfield saved the day by creating the Air Jordan 3 which MJ fell in love with. We see the shoe’s OG color scheme, while OFF-WHITE add their hallmark zip tie, medial lettering as well as Mike’s signature on the lateral quarter. Perhaps the most interesting inclusion, however, is the pre-crumbled, vintage midsole, filled in with transparent rubber, in one of the most unique design choices Virgil (and Nike) have made in recent years.

@leaked.sneaks ©

FASHION WEEK: THE AFTERMATH

Fashion Week saw two headline announcements come to light, both of which involving massive, blockbuster collaborations between luxury fashion houses and streetwear powerhouses. Dior linked up with Travis Scott in the brand’s first full collection co-designed by a rapper, with designer Thibo Denis showing off an all-new sneaker dubbed the B713 – a lavishly designed take on classic skateboarding silhouettes. The sneaker is polarising to say the least, with skate purists calling it trash, and the youngsters calling it fire – I think Thibo is ushering in a new era of footwear design at Dior, one that is progressing season by season and will continue to push out cool products.

Unmistakably the biggest news of the week, Louis Vuitton – under Virgil Abloh’s direction – joined forces with Nike and channeled mid-90’s bootleg culture (think Dapper Dan) to make a few colorways of Air Force 1. This is peak collaborative culture; never have we seen such a big name collaboration come about, but at the same time, never have we been so disappointed with the output. Does this mark the decline of the collaboration? Or, at least, maybe the decline of the easy, low-effort, predictable collaborations that we all yawn at?

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RELEASES OF THE WEEK: 28.06 – 4.07

Nike dominates the week’s releases, through a combination of Dunks, Jordans and more modern running silhouettes. The “Game Royal” Dunk high, which comes as an ode to the Kentucky Collegiate Basketball programme (home to Rajon Rondo, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis) in a summer-ready colorway. The Air Jordan IV “White Oreo” releases on the 3rd, without a doubt facing long queues and unlucky raffle entries being so similar to the iconic “White Cement” color scheme, while the latest and greatest runner from Nike – the Vaporfly Next% – arrives in a new colorway alluding to the ‘72 Olympic trials that saw Nike debut their waffle shoe.

Other brands are having it large too: ASICS gave Kiko Kostadinov’s Womenswear arm – led by Laura and Deanna Fanning – the opportunity to remix the GEL-Preleus and they did exactly that, providing a new silhouette exclusively for women, following design cues that make all of the Kiko x Asics link-ups so popular. New Balance look to please with the 550 which is set to release in some new color options (once again, the sneaker never fails to look good) while adidas tie up the week with a LEGO collaboration, the first release of which sees a LEGO Superstar you can build yourself.