An explorative new book exploring the culture-defining partnership between Nike and Off-White designer Virgil Abloh will be dropping next month.
Titled ICONS, the investigative book will provide a behind-the-scenes look into all things Off-White x Nike, and charts the creation of “The Ten” collection from 2016 to its current standing as a certified culutral phenomenon.
After reimagining icons like Air Jordan 1, Air Max 90, Air Force 1, and Air Presto, among others—the collection reinvigorated sneaker culture – with Icons tracing Abloh’s creative process through documentation of the prototypes, original text messages from Abloh to Nike designers, and treasures from the Nike archives.
Published by TASCHEN, the comprehensive coffee table tome provides a BTS look at Abloh’s DIY approach and collaborative journey, with Nike and Abloh partnering with the acclaimed London-based design studio Zak Group to piece together the anthology, which comprises of a two-part compendium, equal parts catalog and conceptual toolbox.
The first part of the book presents a visual culture of sneakers while a lexicon in the second part defines the key people, places, objects, ideas, materials, and scenes from which the project grew. Texts by Nike’s Nicholas Schonberger, writer Troy Patterson, curator and historian Glenn Adamson, and Virgil Abloh himself frame the collaborative work within fashion and design history, with the book featuring a foreword by Hiroshi Fujiwara that places the project within the historical continuum of Nike collaborators.
Virgil Abloh and Nike’s ICONS can be pre-ordered now from Flannels.com and will be available from the 30th April 2021. Get a closer look inside the book below.
