- Virgil Abloh launched Nike x Off-White “Football, Mon Amour” collection
- Abloh’s combined social media reach is about 3 million people
While adorning several teams in this year’s World Cup, Nike (NKE -0.30%) is mixing lifestyle and sport branding with its latest Virgil Abloh collaboration. Will this latest project score big with fans like its previous projects with the famed designer?
Why This Matters: Abloh is partnering with so many major brands right now from luxury to furniture. Let’s start with his day jobs as creative director of menswear at Louis Vuitton along with his own aspirational brand Off-White. Then we move to Abloh’s new new capsule collection at Ikea and also designing luggage for Rimowa, all showcasing his depth and versatility.
According to Nike’s news page Abloh designed this collection with his childhood memories in mind. He wanted to blend memories of his youth like playing hip-hop tracks on the way to high school soccer matches. “The great thing about the vocabulary and history of football is that aesthetically it has its own look,” Abloh said. The first item he created was a special version of the Flyknit Zoom Fly running shoes. This is interesting because Nike’s footwear sales in North America remained weak after its fiscal Q1 period.
With World Cup fever in full swing Nike hopes this major release has broad international appeal just like Abloh’s strong social media presence. Harnessing the immense value in his combined social media reach of about 3 million people should make this latest project a huge hit.
What’s Next: Abloh’s Nike x Off-White “Football, Mon Amour” collection launched on June 14th online and at select retail locations globally. We’ll have to wait and see how successful this collaboration is when Nike announces its next quarterly earning report on June 28th.
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