Nike Goes Full Anime With New Nigo Collection: Watch Promo

Anime’s continued popularity has lent the medium to explore some wild territories. In recent years, we’ve seen the likes of the Transformers, Dragon Ball, My Hero Academia, Rick And Morty, and more collaborate to make unique sneakers. Now, Nike has teamed up with Japanese fashion designer Nigo to create Air Force Ones that definitely have a wild anime feel to them. On top of releasing quite a bit of info regarding the upcoming collaboration, the Nike/Nigo collaboration has released an anime-style trailer to create a brand new universe for the unique shoes set to land this month.

While Nigo doesn’t have a strong background in the anime world, the member of the group, the Teriyaki Boyz, has made a name for himself in Japan’s music world. In discussing the new Air Force IIIs that will arrive in Japan on September 28th, Nigo had the following to say regarding his partnership with Nike, “Nike truly has many masterpieces. The Air Force 3 is a hidden masterpiece that I remember loving at the time. Through my first collaboration with Nike, I want to reintroduce everyone to its magnificence.” Nigo also hinted that this upcoming collaboration was only the first of many, meaning more anime collaborations could be on the way.

Nigo also discussed what helped him create this project and touted it as a “long and exciting journey”, “When I decided to work with Nike, I went to the Nike World Headquarters and drew a lot of inspiration from the archives, the lab and the team working there. Everything I saw had a great influence on the project. There are still many things yet to come, so please look forward to the Nike and Nigo project. It’s the beginning of a long and exciting journey.”

The Nike Anime Series That Never Was

Alongside testimony and details regarding the Nike and Nigo collaboration, the sneaker producers shared a new trailer to share an anime universe born from the partnership. Taking a page from Sentai series such as Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and Kamen Rider, these upcoming sneakers are building a universe. 

What Does Nike Have To Say?

Alongside Nigo’s thoughts, Nike’s own Vice President of Global Energy Marketing, Leo Sandino-Taylor, stated the following regarding the upcoming shoe line, “Nigo’s thoughtfulness with his stories and the detail he brought to our first project together has reinvigorated the way we think about applying stories to our products. He brought an unbelievable amount of depth to each creative element that allowed us to be very playful with how we executed his vision. He’s an absolute master of his craft.”  

The Naruto Nikes

As mentioned previously, Nike is no stranger to creating anime collaborations. One of the biggest was the shoe producers teaming up with the Hidden Leaf Village to create Naruto Air Jordans. NBA player Zion Williamson had helped in creating these unique anime sneakers, while even receiving a blessing from Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto. 

In a previous 2020 interview, Williamson shared his thoughts on the ninja shonen series and how it affected him so deeply, “For a while nobody took Naruto seriously and then he went and trained with [master shinobi] Jiraiya for three years, right? And he came back at 16 years old, goated. Sure enough, I’m 16 years old and suddenly all of the attention starts coming. I remember thinking, Yo, that’s crazy. That’s exactly when it happened for Naruto, and it’s when it’s happening for me.”

Want to see how anime continues to spread across unexpected avenues? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on the Nike x Nigo partnership and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime. 

Via Nike