Nike’s Swoosh-less Air Force 1 ‘Nai-Ke’ returns this season, continuing the forty-year-anniversary of the brand’s first Made in China sneakers. This time, the AF1 goes green in an all-canvas construction.
Forty years ago, Nike sought out a factory in China to produce the then-fledgling brand’s sneakers on a previously unheard of scale. The project began with the the factory and Nike working on a special test shoe to see quality, materials, and accuracy. The result was a tonal sneaker, using a single white stripe on the midfoot of each shoe in place of the typical Swoosh branding. Since then, “The One Line” shoes have all but faded into obscurity, only to reappear in 2022 with Nike celebrating the anniversary of the pivotal moment in their history. So far, we’ve seen a small handful of releases from the ‘Nai-Ke’ collection, now joined by the olive canvas style seen here. This pair ditches the One Line color blocking in favor of a stripe made from sashiko-like stitching, as well as covering the shoe’s midsole in the same canvas material. The heel tabs and insoles both present ‘Nike’ in Mandarin characters to complete the look.
NIKE AIR FORCE 1 “NAI-KE” OLIVE CANVAS RELEASE INFORMATION
Nike’s latest Air Force 1 ‘Nai-Ke’, celebrating the brand’s first foray into Chinese-made sneakers in the ’80s, has not yet been given a release date for this olive green canvas pair. However, we are expecting this tonal release to arrive on shelves sometime this Spring, carrying a price tag of $150+ from Nike and select retailers. Check out Nike’s official images for the “Nai-Ke” AF1 below, and stay tuned to JustFreshKicks for more Nike release news.
