Despite being raised in Italy, Riccardo Tisci grew up a fan of basketball and all things “overseas culture.” Basketball was the only sport he played, in fact, in a country obsessed with soccer. Taking to the hardwood was a unique expression for young Riccardo, connecting him with a broader world beyond his own backyard.
Tisci, of course, would go on to become the creative director of Givenchy, one of the most revered fashion houses in the world, and he’s brought with him that love for basketball, often incorporating elements of the sport into his runway shows, and even appropriating some of its style for use on his own high-fashion pieces. And so, with basketball being a great equalizer — it brings together young and old, rich and poor, people of all backgrounds, so long as they have the will and the way — who better than Tisci to marry together the seemingly disparate worlds of designer fashion and basketball-inspired streetwear?
And that’s precisely what he’s done, with the Riccardo Tisci x Nike Air Force 1 collection, officially dubbed Nike + R.T. AF1. The classic sartorial sense and silhouette of the Air Force 1 are retained — including the signature chunky midsole that almost defines the model — and combined with colorful bands of color layered onto the heels and Swooshes of the black and white AF1 Highs, Mids and Lows. The results are stunning — instantly familiar, yet entirely new; classic sporty style, with a dash of haute couture. And then there’s that Riccardo Tisci x Nike Air Force 1 Boot. . . .
Taking the aforementioned haute couture to an entirely new place, the Nike + RT AF1 Boot utilizes Tisci’s AF1 High — complete with the colorful banding and ankle-strap — and exaggerates the idea of hightop-support by adding in an elegant, designer-style knee-high boot made of black leather. It’s a wild departure, as extreme an addition to an iconic sportswear style as any in recent memory, yet still, like the others, immediately recognizable as Nike’s famous Force.
That boot, along with the rest of the white Nike + RT AF1 collection, will launch March 21 at select Nike concept locations including 151 Wooster, 21 Mercer, Dover Street Market New York, London, and Tokyo, 1948 London, Nike Stadium Milan, X158 Shanghai, as well as other select retailers globally.
Following that, the Nike + RT AF1 collection in black will release globally in May.
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