Nike’s 2021 Dia de Muertos style capsule brings family vibes and vibrant colorways to two of the brand’s legacy sneakers.
In 2020, the athleticwear brand designed four silhouettes to mark Mexico’s annual celebration of departed spirits, which takes over November 1 and 2. This year, the Air Force 1 and Air Jordan 1 receive an array of colors, reflective treatments and patterns meant to illustrate the journey through the ‘nine-level Mictlan underworld through which infinite family power is achieved, according to Nike.
The AF1 boasts an embroidered Swoosh logo with green, yellow and blood orange pigments, making for the most colorfully varied element. Leather panels on the midsole are also rendered in orange, while the toebox’s fabric is violet to match the collar. A Siempre Familia graphic—not visible in provided imagery—adorns the insole.
The AJ1 gets a more animalistic design featuring a bright jaguar print on roughout leather, teeth surrounding the edge of the toebox, the words Siempre and Familia split across two tongues, and an inventive take on the Swoosh logo that employs an arrow sketch to construct the bottom curve.
While the sneakers are the headlining pieces, the Dia de Muertos collection also includes a bomber jacket and multiple t-shirts that combine Nike symbolism with Mictlan-inspired illustrations, such as skulls and bones, the afterlife-guiding Xolo dog, and traditional creatures like the iguana and jaguar.
The 2021 Día de Muertos collection releases October 24 on SNKRS in Mexico, October 26 on the Nike App in Mexico, and October 29 globally.
