UPDATE (March 21, 2026)
The worldwide raffle is now live, with separate launch pages per region. Enter below at the designated link for your country.
REST OF WORLD EQL RAFFLE (US, Canada, Mexico, NZ, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore)
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UPDATE (March 15, 2026)
The EQL Launch page is now live: https://vaa.runfair.com/en-US/us/air-jordan-1-x-vaa
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Virgil Abloh’s influence continues to shape culture across fashion, design, music, and beyond.
Today, the VIRGIL ABLOH ARCHIVE™ and Jordan Brand have officially announced the release of the AIR JORDAN 1 HIGH OG X V.A.A., a V.A.A. edition of an original design by the late Virgil Abloh (1980-2021). This marks the first global release of a work drawn from the Virgil Abloh Archive™, a collection of over 20,000 objects spanning Virgil’s creative practice, with a new release of the historic design partnership between Nike and Virgil Abloh that began in 2017.
“V.A.A.’s mission is to keep Virgil’s ideas alive. The Archive exists not only to preserve Virgil’s work, but to share it with great care and intention,” said Shannon Abloh, founder and president of the Virgil Abloh Archive™.
“Virgil treasured his collaboration with Nike, and the Air Jordan 1 was deeply significant for him. As a teenager, it sparked his dream of becoming a designer, and it was the first pair he designed for Nike. It’s an honor to continue this partnership under the banner of V.A.A. for NIKE, advancing Virgil’s creative legacy together through exhibitions, publications, cultural programming, and new editions of his iconic designs,” Shannon continued.
Growing up an hour outside of Chicago, Virgil watched Michael Jordan the way his generation watched superheroes. “Michael Jordan was our basketball player,” he once said. “To me, he’s like Superman in real life. He would just put on a uniform and transform into this larger-than-life character. But it’s the shoes that were like his cape.”
The Air Jordan 1 was the shoe that inspired Virgil’s journey to become a designer. He was drawn to objects that showed how they were made, that wore their construction openly rather than hiding it. When Nike presented the opportunity to re-approach it for The Ten in 2017, he arrived on campus not with a presentation but with a question: where’s the airbag? He picked up an X-Acto knife and punctured the sole to find out. “If there is an airbag,” he said, “then I’m going to write the word ‘AIR’ on it.”
Revealing – to make the hidden visible – became a central pillar of Virgil’s early design language. His work spoke to how things were produced, materially and culturally, and through a set of visual motifs. The AIR JORDAN 1 HIGH OG X V.A.A. (SKU: AA3834-100) features Virgil’s signature exposed tongue, orange tab on the Swoosh, and black ‘AIR’ lettering printed directly over Nike’s classic air unit on the midsole.
Earlier this month, Virgil Abloh Archive announced it was opening free public membership, inviting audiences to engage more deeply with Virgil’s creative practice and the Archive’s ongoing initiatives.
The Archive also announced that members can apply to participate in the Toolkit program for students, emerging creatives, and lifelong learners by sharing a brief overview of their work and a recent project. The first 100 Toolkit subscribers will be gifted a pair of the AIR JORDAN 1 HIGH OG X V.A.A. Free sign-up for membership, and the Toolkit is available at virgilabloh.com.
To celebrate this launch, Virgil Abloh Archive™ will partner with friends and collaborators throughout March in cities around the world that were central to Virgil’s life and practice.
The first activation takes place at Architecture in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 14, and Sunday, March 15.
Programming highlights include Virgil’s design, graphics, and bookmaking practice with artist talks, screenings, and workshops alongside a curated selection of Virgil’s publications, including rare and unpublished zines. Vignettes of the Virgil Abloh: The Codes exhibition, including the Media Lab and Theatre, will provide an immersive experience, offering the public a closer look into the Archive™ and Virgil’s creative practice.
This weekend’s release at the World’s Fair stop in Los Angeles will be hosted via EQL raffle, open to guests of Architecture and local Los Angeles residents. Winners will be selected at random and notified via email with a designated collection time.
Please note: the Air Jordan 1 High OG x V.A.A. will NOT be available for in-person purchase at the Los Angeles event on March 14-15.
The V.A.A. World’s Fair will continue throughout March across cities central to Virgil’s life and practice – Chicago, New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. Release details for each stop have not yet been announced
Guests of Architecture and local Los Angeles residents are eligible to enter. Winners will be selected at random and notified via email with a designated collection time. In-person purchases will not be available at the event.
More details to come on when the raffle opens and closes.
The AIR JORDAN 1 HIGH OG X V.A.A. retails for $230 USD and will be available via V.A.A. exclusively throughout March, in-person at V.A.A.™ WORLD’S FAIR activations and online via Canary Yellow.
The AIR JORDAN 1 HIGH OG X V.A.A. launches globally on April 3, 2026, at Nike.com and select retailers.
To stay in the know and simplify the release even more, take a look at EQL+. With features like second choice selection, win protection, and zero RunFair fees – now is as good a time as ever to take the plunge.
(Photography by Andrew Zuckerman Studio)
