A collection born from a mutual love of basketball that celebrates the games ability to unite a community of diverse backgrounds together under one love. Nike partners with PIGALLE, also known as the Pain O Chokolat crew, to create a collection that represents an authentic lifestyle of basketball. Refusing to let the boundaries of urban living keep them away from play, the Nike x PPP Collection combines sport heritage and style allowing you to move seamlessly from the court into everyday life with ease.
Building on a decade-long relationship between Nike and Pain O Chokolat, the Nike x PPP (Pain O ChoKolat, PIGALLE Paris, Pompon) Collection brings the spirit of Paris’s creative class to sportswear. Inspired by the patina that occurs over time on a well used basketball court, scuffed surfaces from hours of play and rusted metal hoops that surrender to the elements are interpreted in varnished and tie dyed treatments that give the collection an aged look.
Two versions of the Air Force 1 — one AF1 Hi and one AF1 Low — give the iconic bestseller a unique treatment. Intended for lifestyle wear, fine leathers are applied to the classic AF1 silhouette. Crafted using techniques common to the construction of menswear brogues, excess padding is removed, leather laces are added, and an oversized gold metal eyelet accents the workman boot look. The leather uppers are finished with a waxed coating that will take on a look that’s exclusive to the wearer as it breaks down over time with everyday wear. Finally the transparent outsoles reveal a geometric pattern — a coach’s diagram of strategic basketball maneuvers.
Founding member of the PPP crew, Stéphane Ashpool played professional basketball back in the day. Ashpool currently coaches at the community basketball court he petitioned to build, and has a personal connection to the Nike Air Force 1 as the shoe was his footwear of choice on the court.
“I like the fact the AF1 was released the year I was born —1982. I love the little details like that. I wanted to take the shoe and bring it to life. When you put the shoe on you see the story, so I wanted to relate the patina, the way of dyeing and the texture together so it has the feeling of life.” The product of a movement that’s based on movement, the Nike x PPP Collection has a narrative all of its own.
