Should Nike have let another designer take on “The Ten” instead of Virgil Abloh? Well, it turns out that was almost the case.
Prior to their release in 2017, Hiroshi Fujiwara of fragment design and Abloh were in an in-formal competition of sorts, pitching their own takes on “The Ten”, with the latter landing the coveted job. Fujiwara had previously showcased this shoe and other unreleased Nike collabs at the brand’s 2020 NYFW event. Most recently, Fujiwara took to Instagram to show off his previously teased Air Max 1 x fragment design “The Ten” sample.
The sneaker uses a similar rope lacing system to Abloh’s Dunk Low collab and Nike ACG model, but with an upper done in light grey and black suede. The black midsole, tread, and exposed Air unit is complemented by the grey suede upper and silver, embroidered swooshes. continue the monochrome look of the shoe. Similar to the released collection, the fragment sneakers all feature Fujiwara’s signature use of style code text and branding across the midsole. Pull tabs featured “THE TEN” embroidery and insoles contained both “THE TEN” and fragment design’s printed logos.
Scroll below for further images of these and previously leaked The Ten x fragment design samples.
