DJ Khaled has unveiled a new Virgil Abloh designed Louis Vuitton X Air Force 1 collab sneaker.
He took to Instagram to share an unboxing video to celebrate their arrival. The shoes arrived in a monogrammed LV box complete with a matching tag and white strap. Khaled carefully removes the cloth protection bags to reveal the bright red sneakers. He then turns the shoe over in his hand, inspecting every aspect of the design.
“Wow. Virgil is here and Virgil is still here,” he said, referencing the subtitle of LV’s posthumous fashion show tribute to the late designer. “This is so beautiful, nah this is unbelievable, look at this. Get a close up.”
A card with a note written from the visionary creative read, “Virgil was here. Sign of the times, the most authentic high-end sneaker ever made. Transcending fashion into an art object through craftsmanship.”
Meanwhile, Louis Vuitton and Nike announced on Wednesday that 200 limited-edition Air Force 1 sneakers designed by Virgil Abloh will go on auction at Sotheby’s. The auction runs from Jan. 26 to Feb. 8 with bids for the exclusive colorways starting at $2,000. Sneakerheads who miss out on the auction will have to wait until later this year when LV launches a commercial run with limited quantities available.
Virgil Abloh’s Scholarship Fund
Women’s Wear Daily reported that the proceeds of the auction will be going to the Virgil Abloh “Post Modern” Scholarship Fund. The designer created the fund in 2020 for Black fashion students and told WWD at the time:
”As a Black designer, I found my way through school, and a mixture of creative projects, and I had to make a name for myself. That took a lot of years and a lot of meetings and a lot of runway shows and a lot of work, and I wanted to make that door open for a younger generation to sort of have a pathway that stays open.”
“I was a student on a campus that was largely not as diverse as the world is,” Virgil Abloh explained. “And it’s important to set up this foundation specifically for Black students who may feel like in the industry of fashion, they don’t see many people that they can identify with,” he added.