It was during Paris Fashion Week in January 2020 that it was confirmed that the VaporWaffles de Nike x Sacai they were more than a rumour. After nearly a year of rumors on social media, as well as an unofficial leak of the pair’s images on Twitter, the new tennis silhouette debuted at the Japanese brand’s fall/winter 2020 show, Sacai.
The VaporWaffles de Nike x Sacaiwhich feature elements of the pre-existing silhouettes of Nike: Pegasus from 1983 and Vaporfly from 2017, were designed by the in-house team of the Oregon-based sports giant and the founder of Sacai, Chitose Abe. In 2020, tennis they came in three color combinations—blue, red, and white; purple with green and yellow with green—and featured layered soles and more than one tongue, which was a first for any shoe design at the time. Nike. They sold out everywhere and today they are from the most coveted sneakers and fetch prices of over $1,100 on resale sites like StockX and Farfetch.
The new version
This week both brands will launch the best versions of the VaporWaffles de Nike x Sacai. Both pairs of shoes stay true to the original design that debuted in 2020 and feature those dual-layer soles, as well as mirrored lugs, dual Swoosh motifs, dual branding, and a stiff waffle underfoot.
However, this time the sneakers have received a look more mature and less in tune with the designs flaunted by the sneakerheads On Instagram. The latest design of VaporWaffles de Nike x Sacai come in the signature creamy “Sail” color of Nike (which was also used by the legendary Virgil Abloh during his years working with Nike, especially in the Jordan 5) and in a black version with brown details. For his part, Abe and Nike They’ve replaced the mesh upper we saw on the original 2020 model with leather, suede and nylon, taking this pair of shoes to a new level of luxury.
The launch
The new models of VaporWaffles de Nike x Sacai will go on sale this Thursday at nike.com at a price of 180 dollars. Don’t expect them to stay there for long.
Article originally published in GQ UK.
