OFF WHITE VIRGIL ABLOH UNRELEASED AIRWALK COLLABORATION SURFACES FROM 2016 ARCHIVE

## The Lost Chapter in Virgil Abloh's Footwear Evolution Virgil Abloh's relationship to Nike began long before he first visited the company's world headquarters in October 2016 to start a new collaboration. But newly surfaced archive images reveal that 2016 was also the year Abloh explored another path: deconstructing the iconic American skateboarding brand that defined the 1990s scene. The unreleased OFF-WHITE x Airwalk collaboration represents a fascinating footnote in Abloh's design trajectory. While Nike would ultimately become the canvas for his most influential footwear work, these early Airwalk experiments show Abloh testing his reconstruction philosophy on a brand that understood rebellion long before luxury streetwear existed. The brand gained widespread popularity for its most popular shoe – "The One" – in the mid 1990s. Originally based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, during its heyday it was cited as one of the world's most influential brands. By 2016, Airwalk had lost much of its cultural cache, making it an intriguing choice for Abloh's collaborative attention. ## The Skateboarding Context That Shaped Abloh's Vision During the 1990s, Airwalk reached its zenith. Collaborating with renowned skateboarders and sponsoring events helped to solidify their position as a leader in the industry. The brand became synonymous with skate culture, represented in countless magazines, videos, and competitions. By 1990, Airwalk sales had reached $20 million, but then the early 1990s bust hit. Their sales fell to $8 million, and Airwalk was in deep trouble. The brand's mainstream pivot alienated core skate retailers, creating space for newer companies like Etnies and DC to dominate. This decline made Airwalk an ideal subject for Abloh's reconstruction philosophy. Like his approach to luxury fashion, he saw potential in reviving overlooked cultural artifacts through his distinctive design language. ## The Timing That Never Was In 2016, he would show in Paris, a timely move that changed the trajectory of his career in fashion. That same year, while OFF-WHITE was gaining international recognition, Abloh was simultaneously developing multiple footwear collaborations. Abloh's quick pace was an ideal match for a rapid Nike Direct timeline, resulting in one of the fastest collaborations Nike has ever completed: 10 shoes in about 10 months from ideation to release. The Nike partnership would consume his footwear bandwidth, likely shelving the Airwalk project indefinitely. The Virgil Abloh Archive™ — a collection of over 20,000 objects from Virgil's creative practice. Within this vast collection, unreleased collaborations like the Airwalk project offer insights into Abloh's creative process and the paths not taken. ## The Reconstruction Method Applied to Skate Heritage Abloh's signature deconstruction techniques—exposed foam, relocated branding, and quotation-mark typography—would have found natural application on Airwalk's classic silhouettes. Airwalk combated ollie holes with the Prototype line, featuring durable double-stitched suede and leather uppers and rubber reinforcement along the 'ollie area' and toe of the shoe. This functional approach to skateboarding durability aligned perfectly with Abloh's interest in revealing the inner construction of footwear. Where Airwalk solved technical problems through reinforcement, Abloh could have celebrated those solutions through exposure. ## The Archive Reveals What Could Have Been By the time he founded Off-White, and then as the artistic director of Louis Vuitton Men's, everything Abloh touched was filed away, from the final pieces to the notes, models, and prototypes along the way. According to his former chief of staff Athiththan Selvendran, now chief operating officer of Virgil Abloh Securities (VAS), which oversees the archive, "Nothing was discarded, nothing was not important." The emergence of these Airwalk images demonstrates the comprehensive nature of Abloh's archival practice. Even unreleased collaborations received the same meticulous documentation as his produced work, creating a complete record of his creative explorations. This project would have preceded The Ten collection by mere months, potentially offering a different entry point into Abloh's footwear philosophy. Instead of Nike's performance innovation, Airwalk represented pure skate culture authenticity—a foundation that might have resonated differently with streetwear audiences. The timing suggests Abloh was casting a wide net in 2016, exploring multiple footwear partnerships before Nike became his primary collaborative focus. The Airwalk project remains a compelling glimpse into an alternate timeline where America's original skate brand, not the Swoosh, became the canvas for Abloh's reconstruction experiments.