If you’re a streetwear brand collaborating with Nike for the first time, you have to put it all on the line. The Swoosh provides a bigger stage than any other brand in the space—and they don’t just hand everyone with a decent logo tee a collaborative colorway. Those invited to work with the brand need to aim to make a big impression, something like the one Los Angeles’s Kids of Immigrants is making with their first Nikes. Their big swing has connected and the result is one of the best sneakers of 2024.
The brand, founded by Daniel Buezo and Weleh Dennis back in 2016, have spent the last near-decade carving out a unique space for themselves in the streetwear world. Their threads pay homage to the ethos of their namesake: first-gen kids, their parents, and the communities they forge. Tees and hoodies branded with sincere slogans like “Support Your Friends” and “We Are Our Parents’ Wildest Dreams” stood out alongside increasingly detached and sardonic branding from their peers. The scene took notice. So did the Swoosh.
Impressed by the vision, Nike invited KOI to lend their touch to a colorway of the Air Max Sunder, a gorpy archival trainer that first hit shelves back in 1999. The shoe never quite took off then, but Nike revived it back in 2022 with a colorway from staple collaborators Comme des Garçons. As the shoe slowly found its way back to shelves in general release colorways, KOI now stands uniquely poised to elevate it to a new level of popularity with their take on the off-kilter kicks.
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