The Virgil Abloh Archive™ recently held a private preview of its expanded edition of Virgil Abloh: The Codes exhibit at Paris' Grand Palais. There, thousands of samples, pitch-decks, and personal mementos from the late designer's collection has been put on display, proliferating his ideas amongst loyal followers and uninformed spectators alike. A never-before-seen pair of street-ready Nike Football boots by Off-White™ are being showcased.
Author and publisher of streetwear almanac ALL GONE Michael Dupouy posted a photo of the unreleased sample to Instagram. At quick glance, the pair could be mistaken for a pre-production edition of Abloh's original Air Max 97 from "The Ten," but close inspection dispels that idea. Instead, the silhouette resembles something from the longstanding Nike Tiempo line, a franchise of traditional (historically leather) football boots once endorsed by the likes of Ronaldinho. Abloh's signature zip-ties and quotation mark-flanked Helvetica text appears on the white-and-red prototype. What's particularly interesting about the never-before-seen design is that the Swoosh unveiled a similarly-looking model earlier in the year; it's called the Nike Cryoshot.
Nike Football's street-ready retro hasn't seen an official launch at retailers, but the style has already popped up via a collaboration with Patta. The finishes included in Cryoshot's announcement are rooted in football boot excellence, nodding to Ronaldo's Mercurial from the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Ronaldinho's Legend Tiempo R10 from 2005. Grass-ready studs, however, are covered with a transparent plastic case, allowing for the design to be worn casually.
The Off-White™ pair follows suit.
Back in 2018, Abloh worked on a football-informed capsule in anticipation of the year's World Cup tournament. His work included a Mercurial Vapor 360 endorsed by Kylian Mbappé of eventual champions France. It's possible the Cryoshot-reminiscent design was developed around this time; it's also possible Abloh had been working with Nike Football on prototypes ahead of the 2026 World Cup given that the event would primarily take place in the U.S., the Swoosh's home turf. In any case, the pair and rest of The Codes exhibit showcase the Illinois-native's limitless vision.
Grand Palais' Virgil Abloh: The Codes runs from Sept. 30 to Oct. 10. To check out something else that surfaced via the exhibit, read about the Prada-Nike pitch-deck Abloh worked on in 2017.
For more news related to "the beautiful game," check out the Adidas' F50 Adiframe "Shock Pink" design.
