Nike Builds Three Sneakers Out of Devil Fruit, and Anime Fans Are Buying In
Nike's global One Piece collection turns three fictional superpowers into retooled Air Max Plus silhouettes, backed by a rollout that started with pop-ups a month before the worldwide drop.
Nike launched its One Piece collaboration globally on SNKRS, centered on three Air Max Plus sneakers inspired by Devil Fruits from the anime and manga series: Gomu Gomu no Mi, Ope Ope no Mi, and Mera Mera no Mi. Each shoe uses a retooled upper exclusive to the collection, and the accompanying apparel line of jerseys, caps, t-shirts, and a vest reimagines manga panels as vintage Nike ads, alongside Jolly Roger flag graphics and a joint Nike x One Piece logo.
Nike GM Nick Remlinger tied the concept directly to the brand's own mythology, saying the team drew on "the superhuman abilities unlocked when characters eat Devil Fruits" as a stand-in for "the feeling an athlete has when they put on a pair of Nikes." That is a tidy trick: instead of just slapping a logo on a licensed product, Nike is arguing its own brand promise and the anime's central superpower fantasy are the same idea, just told in different languages.
The rollout also shows Nike's growing comfort with treating a global drop like a worldwide tour rather than a single event, staging regional pop-ups and retail partner releases across Tokyo, Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Seoul starting September 4, weeks ahead of the simultaneous global release running through mid-October.
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Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →
