Pop superstar Billie Eilish is reuniting with sportswear manufacturing brand Nike to craft an environment-friendly version of the Air Force 1 High made of recycled materials.
Nike’s partnerships with distinct personalities are a strategic decision to help extend the brand’s reach into various other subcultures. By co-creating limited-edition products with pop culture favourites, collaborations capture the attention of consumers with diverse and niche interests and fan the flame of hype.
Here’s all we know about the eco-friendly Nike Air Force 1 x Billie Eilish collab
The idea and design
Eilish channels her own signature oversized aesthetic while designing the collection, without modifying Nike’s classic silhouettes.
To help create a better world, Nike Air Force 1 ‘Mushroom’ is made from a combination of 18 percent post-consumer recycled materials, which includes a nubuck upper crafted with 80 percent recycled content, 100 percent recycled polyester elements and an underfoot made with Nike Grind.
Eilish’s design reflects a young, contemporary style, dressed in a universal colour palette.
Features and colour
To create the new-age rendition of the AF1, Eilish chose recycled synthetic nubuck material for a relaxed and soft look and feel.
The superlight-yet-resilient collection features five chunky midfoot straps covering the shoe’s laces and is inspired by two other Nike staples, the Alpha Force Low and Air Trainer 3. The thick straps, reminiscent of styles of the ’80s and ’90s, are finished with tabs that mimic the Nike Grind midsole.
The sustainable shoes are made in an understated and sophisticated tonal mushroom colour, suitable for any look or outfit.
While the monochrome colour palette of the Billie Eilish text-based logos reflects the special style and temperament of the pop star, her bright, gender-neutral stick figure of a human ‘Blohsh’ emblem represents energy, dynamics and delight.
As imagined by Eilish, her ‘Blohsh’ logo is embossed onto the tonal lace dubraes or lace locks, while the cork insoles hold a hidden message that says, “It’s hard to stop it once it starts.”
The mushroom colour palette is also seen in the Nike x Billie Apparel Collection, featuring streetwear like hoodies, sweatpants and T-shirts. Designed in Eilish’s statement oversized style, each item of clothing from the collection is embellished with subtle “Blohsh” graphics made from silicone.
What Billie Eilish said
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“The challenge and opportunity with this collection was to respect the originals, but make them my own. It was also important for me to mix in environmentally preferred materials where we could and present them in a way that felt fresh,” Eilish said in a statement released by Nike.
Having previously worked on an Air Jordan 15 and Air Jordan 1 KO, Eilish is steadily adding more collaborations to her burgeoning footwear catalogue.
Release date
You can purchase the Nike Air Force 1 X Billie on the Billie Eilish web store on 24 April. SNKRS will launch the pair and related apparel collection globally on 25 April.
(Main and featured image: Courtesy of Nike)
Eesha is a passionate digital nomad with a master’s degree in architecture and industrial design from Politecnico di Milano, Italy. A jack of all trades who enjoys writing art, architecture, travel and lifestyle features, she is found petting dogs, taking walks in nature and sniffing books in her free time.
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