The collaboration between Nike and Sacai is a partnership that’s gotten a well deserved buzz over the past 6+ months. When initial images leaked, the hypebeast community of the internet went wild, including myself.

(If you̵7;re interested in July 2019’s Nike x Sacai collection, check out our article on that release here)

With prototype models and sketches of the beloved sneakers widely seen, the arrival of official images spells quite the future ahead of us for Nike and Sacai. The electric designer is finally bringing to life a Blazer alongside her LDWaffle. Four color ways are set to debut.

Keep reading until the end of this post (or just skip right to it), where we have a full list of the nearly 40 websites worldwide that are stocking the Nike x Sacai collection along with direct links to their website.

The 2019 Nike Blazer + LD Waffle

The Nike x Sacai LDWaffle we will receive color ways of orange and green alongside the blue and red design. The Nike x Sacai Blazer silhouette comes in black and blue alongside the yellow and navy design.

You can do some digging and find more color ways that are rumored to be in the vault but we at least have an official release for the other 4.

Nike’s work with Sacai in 2019 is a first since 2015 which touted a highly visual group of garments.

sacai nike blazer ldv waffle capsule
Image of each color way of the 2019 Sacai x Nike Waffles and Blazers via Sneaker News

Some History about the Sacai Label

To share some background on the Japanese high fashion label, Sacai: The founder/creator Chitose Abe found her calling from maternity leave matter of factly. The designer conceptualized something that had shockingly never been done before – or done well, rather.

This concept could be coined as hybridization—clothes that have unique look coming and going, and combining, for example, a shirt with a jacket. This became her trademark style. All of this occurred whilst home tending to her baby daughter at the time, Tohko.

Abe herself has mentioned in the past that “All I was wearing were jeans, chinos, V-neck sweaters, T-shirts, polo shirts,” and “I thought, is this it? I started to experiment to see if I could maybe fuse two garments—say, a sweater with a shirt.” I believe that it’s thought leaders like this that take fashion to a new level and in the right direction.

I believe that it’s thought leaders like this that take fashion to a new level and in the right direction. While it’s good to stick with the hits we all know and love, this is tasteful innovation.

Screen Shot 2019 05 17 at 3.43.33 PM
The highly coveted Black/Legend Blue “Blazer” from this collection, as seen on news.nike.com

Born with inspiration

Even as a small child, Abe has had an eye for fashion. Being an enthusiast for the finer things, she has reminisced on her mother’s disdain for some of her clothing choices. Abe says, “She refused to go out with me, and sometimes even cried! But to me, fashion is an important part of my life; it’s a way of expressing myself.”

Abe graduated with her degree in Nagoya and it’s noted that she whimsically moved to Tokyo with only “two cardboard boxes”. From there she managed to find a living as a pattern cutter for the highly popular Japanese label, Comme des Garcons. The brand is spearheaded by Junya Watanabe – another icon to do work with Nike.

In 1999 she started her own label and called it Sacai. This was inspiration from her maiden name, Sakai. Her collection was a small group of knits from her home. Abe began marketing her line in Europe and the U.S. in the early stages. By 2009, she was presenting Sacai in Paris. The brand launched its first menswear collection to the public also in ’09.

Being very powerful and admirable , Abe was rumored to be the replacement to Alexander Wang who was the head of the Balenciaga house at the time. History aside, her brand has stood the test of time and has already gained a tremendous amount of awareness through this recent project.

Nike x Sacai Capturing the Fashion World in 2018 and 2019

Listen, to be more candid these sneakers are an absolute swish, no matter who you are. On feet these are sure to break some necks while still garnering some respect from old heads who can see the nostalgia in the timeless Nike silhouettes. The double tongues, swooshes, laces, midsoles are an eye catching component.

In my opinion these won’t be sneakers that will look better with heavy wear so I figured that’s worth noting – just an opinion though! From what I’ve read so far of folks that have early pairs, the LDWaffles are fairly comfortable.

The sneaker YouTube pioneer Foamer Simpson put them to his patented “Life Test” so if you’re curious to how these stand up, definitely check it out.

Retail and Resale Market Value of the Sacai x Nike Waffles & Blazers

Nike sacai daybreak green may 2019 release stockx price
Big bucks for these works of art by Sacai and Nike on StockX.com in early May. The number has fallen since, check the site for current prices.

Regardless, these are expected to sell out quickly on their release date ofThursaday, May 30th 2019.

The LDWaffles and Blazers will retail for $160 and $140, respectively. So far we’ve seen quite the rollercoaster for the LDWaffles and their resale value.

There have been recorded sales up to $1500 at one time while now the lowest asks are in the mid $400 range for either color way. There may be a surprise at the stock numbers in relation to what was expected earlier this year.

So, for the investors and shoe flippers out there, you can expect to make $300 to over $1,000 per pair you get your hands on for this late May drop (here’s a whole list of resellable kicks coming out in May)

Some additional background on the LDWaffle – it’s the meld of the Waffle Racer and the LDV Vintage. You can see how the layers overlap in this insightful post from Highsnobiety’s instagram.follow us on instagramFollow Us @sneakerflippers

The Blazers are the More Valuable of the Collection

Screen Shot 2019 05 17 at 3.45.06 PM
Big numbers for the Blazer on StockX as of mid May 2019, pre release date.

The Blazers on the other hand have had a super small sample size of sales so far and have boasted some prices for the deeper pockets.

The black/blue and the yellow/navy have seen an average resale price of over $1400 and $900 respectively. From a resellers perspective, it’s hard to deny these will be the hotter commodity. Inversely, consumers will be more hard pressed to get their hands on these coveted pairs.

Where to Buy the Nike x Sacai Collection in May 2019 ( a site list)

Here is a list of the retailers that will have the Nike x Sacai collection in stock. We will see the global release on May 30th. The stores stocking the Nike x Sacai collection of May 2019 range throughout locations in the United States, Mexico, Europe (Denmark, Italy, UK, France, Germany), Asia (Japan, Hong Kong) and even Russia.

From the Image above, here’s a full list of the stores, along with direct links to their site below.

Be sure to bookmark this for the release date:

Lane CrawfordAntonioliSNKRSUndefeated

ConceptsAntoniaBTSN Shoe Gallery

ShinzoKM20Citadium A Ma Manerie

HirshleifersSelfridges & Co SNS Sneaker Politics

KITHNikeJuiceSlam Jam Socialism

StarcowBodega Foot Patrol LUST

ENDOne Block Down Mr PorterNAKED

Sacai HavenMaxfield LATsum

OffspringNet-A-Porter JOYCE

NotreSocial Statussolebox

Each of the sites above has a different process, some have raffles, some are doing in person, so for your highest odds of getting these shoes, sign up to each of their email lists, follow their Instagrams, and bookmark everything relevant.

It’s clear that this release is going be very reminiscent of an Off-White sneaker release as they’re very limited and are expected to gain value over time, making these a potentially solid investment (check out our post here about sneakers and investing). Is this one of the biggest releases this year? Sound off.

– Erik

Take your reselling game to the next level

Author

Avatar

erik anson

Erik has been a devotee to sneakers and footwear in general ever since he can remember. His Mount Rushmore of sneakers in his collection would be the Grey New Balance 990v4's, Nike x Atmos Animal Air Max 95 (06), Jordan 3 White cement, and Pure Platinum Air Yeezy 2.

Comments (3)

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Dexter Wallace

    Is the only way to cop the sneakers these days is with bots?

    1. JVG

      Bots are a huge part of the game, yes. But it’s still possible to get in manually using different techniques that we cover, also making in person connects is key.

  2. Wikd

    Those blazers predictions lmao. Damn quick buck resellers basing everything on beloved stockx.