Do Call It a Comeback

A full circle moment of drops.

When NIGO first started teasing his Nike collaboration a few years ago on the runways of his KENZO shows, heads immediately assumed that he’d basically be making what BAPE should have been all along—legit Nike Air Force 1s done up in candy-colored patent leather.

And while we did get the latter in the form of NIGO’s first Air Force 3, a silhouette he revisited time and again in a multi-chapter sneaker story, the reactions to the shoe were mixed. It wasn’t what fans wanted, but rather what NIGO wanted to put out there. Turns out some things are truly worth the wait.

This weekend marks the release of the LO 2 Air Force 1, a patent leather blue and white sneaker that coincides with the opening of NIGO’s latest exhibit in London. True to his “real heads know” collector’s mindset, it’s not just any Air Force 1. He specifically uses the narrower 2001 silhouette, going as far as changing up the shoebox to one indicative of the era.

The narrower toebox and sleeker shape reflects a connoisseur’s eye for sneakers—if the Air Force 3 was NIGO putting people onto a silhouette he felt was underrated, his resurrection of the OG-approved “ideal” AF1 model reinforces his status as your favorite collector’s favorite collector. And it almost makes the anticipation of the long-awaited release worth it.

Coincidentally, it also marks another historic collaboration—one between HIDDEN and BAPE, the brand NIGO famously founded and then sold to IT Group in 2013. It’s no secret that the label and NIGO have been hugely influential to the entire HIDDEN ethos, both from an aesthetic perspective to the HIDDEN.NY avatar quite literally being NOWHERE, the pioneering Ura-Harajuku shop co-founded by NIGO and Jun Takahashi.

Known as the birthplace of both UNDERCOVER and BAPE, its legacy continues to be felt in the eminently shoppable backstreets of Harajuku and Shibuya, where NOWHERE’s successors range from Supreme to multi-brand shop Studious, and of course NIGO’s latest label, HUMAN MADE.

The meeting of the minds between BAPE and HIDDEN symbolizes a passing of the torch of sorts. Taking the label’s signature camo and graphics and infusing HIDDEN’s signature green motif, even the iconic BAPEsta sneaker is reimagined with minimal colored uppers accented with 3M details, and a more retro shape akin to NIGO’s own beloved 2001 Air Force 1s.

The fact that both sneakers are releasing within days of each other is a coincidence that could only be written by fate.

The legacy of Jun Takahashi and NIGO’s “Last Orgy 2” lives on in the platform that HIDDEN has become. The Asayan magazine article was a way for the two tastemakers to put curious Japanese youth onto emerging movements, new trends, up-and-coming brands, and the latest and greatest in the burgeoning worlds of sneakers and streetwear.

Now with over a million followers, it’s safe to say HIDDEN has become a modern version of that, making curation and bringing subculture to the forefront of pop culture a modern discipline. The dedication to consistent posting and desire to dominate the algorithm in a very honed way is a testament to just how locked in the account is. It has built a following and developed a unique aesthetic, growing its community without sacricificing its identity.

And really, that’s what is monumental about these dovetailing sneakers. It’s an unintentional pairing that makes too much sense. There is definitely a certain crossover of heads raised by the internet that will feel extremely salty if they happen to miss out on both releases.

At least for the HIDDEN x BAPE release, paid members can get a better chance at early access and the exclusive sneakers that will surely sell out. But if you wanted more proof at how cyclical trends are… just ask yourself when was the last time you got this excited for an Air Force 1?