Nike is collaborating with Slawn, the irreverent British-Nigerian artist known for his bold characters and spray paint work, on two pairs of Air Max 90s that are set to release in March, sneaker industry sources tell Complex. Nike hasn’t announced the project, but images of the collab circulated online this week.
Sneaker News unwittingly leaked the Slawn shoes on Tuesday, posting two previously unseen colorways of the Air Max 90 that were listed for sale online at German retailer Asphalt Gold. The store likely did not realize the Air Max 90 was a special project intended for a later release.
Neither Sneaker News nor Asphalt Gold made mention of Slawn in their descriptions of the shoes.
A close look at the details on the sneakers reveals their origin. The heel badges feature a Slawn-like face with long semicircular eyes. It’s tough to make out from the Asphalt Gold photos, but the uppers on the Air Max 90s appear to feature Slawn drawings embossed on the leather. The shoes have redone mudguards, paint speckles, and imperfectly-shaped Swooshes on their uppers. The Slawn x Nike Air Max 90s come in black (style code FD6492-001) and white (style code FD6492-100).
At least one pair of shoes already made it out into the wild. On Tuesday, a YouTube user from the Netherlands published a barely-viewed video featuring the black Air Max 90. Like Sneaker News, the user did not make the connection to Slawn, but the clip shows the words “Air Slawn” written on the box in graffiti lettering.
Asphalt Gold, no doubt realizing it accidentally previewed the first collaboration from an artist that’s new to the Nike roster by posting the shoes early, has pulled the Air Max 90s from its website.
Nike and Slawn did not respond to requests for comment about the collaboration.
While Nike hasn’t made its partnership with Slawn public, there have been quiet signals pointing to their alignment. At Art Basel in Miami last December, Slawn spent time with Nike employees who work on the brand’s collab product. He attended the pre-launch party for the Stash x Nike “Blue Is Back” pack at Concepts wearing the upcoming Air Max DN8, a 2025 shoe that Nike is in the early stages of building hype around. Weeks later, on Dec. 19, he posted a photo that appeared to show him on a conference call with Nike as part of a carousel on Instagram.
UPDATE (02/27): Slawn has officially unveiled his two Air Max 90 collabs on Instagram today. Additionally, the artist announced the opening of a pop-up space at the Truman Brewery in London this Saturday, March 1, for his Air Max 90s. At the time of writing, a wider release for the project has not yet been announced by the brand.
