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Virgil Abloh is far from lost on the nuances of sneaker and streetwear culture. Having ascended to the top at Louis Vuitton, the Kanye confidant with Pyrex Vision manages to bring references from his own youth to the world of high fashion.
The most recent example? Regional sneaker releases.
“408 GLOBAL” @LouisVuitton pic.twitter.com/Xg1Qn0rIeu
— virgil abloh (@virgilabloh) October 31, 2019
Recently, Virgil announced that the Louis Vuitton 408 Trainer will be launching around the world in different cities over the course of the Fall/Holiday season. Not unique. The fact that each city will get their own colorway? That is.
In many ways a reference to the City Series Air Jordan 10s, regional releases made PEs possible in the mid-90s before extending to city specific Air Force 1s and co.jp Air Maxes. Just the same, Kanye and adidas took a similar approach to 350 launches.
To both? “PROPS!”
While the 408s will likely be out of the buying budget for those of us chasing “Playoff” 11s and ComplexCon exclusives in the coming months, this method still harkens back to an earlier era which is appreciated. In addition, it creates local exclusivity and global conversation. Pretty cool.
For now, see how both the “New York” and “Chicago” colorways look on-foot courtesy of gorgeous shots from Eddie Lee at Hypebeast.
