Graffiti Icon Futura on His $100,000 Virgil Abloh Nike Collab

graffiti-icon-futura-on-his-$100,000-virgil-abloh-nike-collab

One pair of your Nike Dunk collabs with Virgil Abloh sold at Sotheby’s for over $100,000. Did you ever foresee that happening when you were working on those shoes?

That’s incredible because it’s a fantastic charitable moment in terms of myself and the Abloh Foundation. In this case, we were raising money for this amazing individual and for charity. But overall, sneakers are a huge industry and kids are either very passionate about how they approach it or it’s just people trying to make money in that realm. 

I’m not against reselling, it’s just that I don’t participate in any of that marketplace in any way. That value is a little bit nuts. I don’t understand how the numbers are that high.

Where would you rank that shoe in terms of sneaker projects that you’ve worked on?

Undoubtedly the value gets it status in the top five of shoes I’ve done. I don’t really keep score in that department. 

As a participant, the Paris Dunk is my all-time favorite shoe. If you know what it is, then you know what I’m talking about. I can’t include any of my shoes in that discussion. I’ll leave myself out of that, but I know I’ve had a presence in that industry and I’m so grateful. It’s been over 20 years now since my arrival in that world. 

That’s very modest of you. There are only eight pairs of that Futura x Off-White Nike Dunk in existence, so most people won’t get to see it in full detail or hold it in their hands. Is there anything about that project that people don’t know about?

It’s mostly Virgil’s touch. It’s how he reinvented that particular model. In essence, it’s just my creative addition in terms of placement of my work on various panels of the shoe.

It was awesome, and I’d been working with Virgil on other stuff, but to do a shoe with him in 2019 and see it come out after everything that’s occurred, and to raise that amount of money for charity is incredible. And the legacy will be as such. 

For the sneaker community, it’s somewhat of a legacy to the body of work and history of Virgil Abloh.

What was Virgil like as a collaborator?

He was obviously some kind of genius with his ability to orchestrate all of the projects he was working on. But he was also so kind, caring, and thoughtful. He took the time out to talk in places where you never really knew what time zone he was in or where in the world he might be. And he was so attentive.

I try to keep a low profile and I only beam in when there’s something to be said or deadlines need to be met to some degree, but he was always on. I miss him. He was a great friend and I got to know him for 10 years. 

In that decade we had wonderful conversations. That’s the thing we were really into—-just talking about the culture and sports. Sports are wonderful because it connects the many dots of many cultures and transcends everything: global identity, age, nationality, and all of that stuff. 

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Graffiti Icon Futura on His $100,000 Virgil Abloh Nike Collab

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