Video game & streetwear collaborations are becoming more commonplace, but sometimes it’s the fans who really know how to execute these drops best.
Sneaker artists RTFKT Studios took to Instagram to show off an absolutely unbelievable pair of custom Nike Air Force 1s themed after Animal Crossing’s lovable loan shark, Tom Nook. The lovingly dubbed “Racoon Force” sneakers take the iconic Nike silhouette and transform them into something immediately recognizable if you’ve ever played Nintendo’s daily life simulator. While the creator doesn’t show their process in designing them, they definitely appear to be built on a standard white AF1 base. From there the key elements of the shoe’s design have been colored in the same scheme as Mr. Nook with added embellishments that call back to related aspects of the series, such as the yellow eyelets for the shoelaces. In addition, some very slick custom elements have been added like a bell-bag charm, Tom Nook’s head as a silhouette on the rear, an argyle pattern mimicking his sweater vest on the swoosh, and a pocket to hold 2 pens. To top it all off, they’re so well designed you could swear these were an official collaboration and not the creation of an ingenious customizer.
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Video game & sneaker collaborations aren’t exactly a rarity in themselves what with Pokemon teaming up with Adidas recently, or Nike releasing PlayStation and Nintendo 64 themed sneakers in the past, but I think it’s pretty fair to say that these blow all of those official collaborations out of the water. If only we could take out an indefinite loan like in the Animal Crossing games so we could get our hands on a pair.