Thursday, 22 October. That is when the NIGO x j-hope x Nike Air Force 1 '01 goes worldwide on SNKRS, five days after Human Made sold the first pairs through its own webstore in Japan. Style code IO8766-800. US retail $150. And for BTS fans in India, a familiar problem: no obvious way to buy it here.
Don't file this under fan merch. It is the newest stop on NIGO's Air Force 1 World Tour, where the man behind BAPE and Human Made builds AF1s around the people and places that shaped him. This stop belongs to j-hope. And it looks nothing like a safe celebrity colourway.
From Human Hope Apparel to a Shared Air Force 1
The pairing did not appear out of nowhere. NIGO and j-hope first worked together on a "Human Hope" apparel collection in 2025, and Just Fresh Kicks reports the shared Human Hope logo carries over to the outer heels here. NIGO's Nike run started in 2024 and spent almost two years on the Air Force 3, a model Nike pulled back out of its archive for him. His "Last Orgy 2" AF1 '01 this spring gave the first proper look at the remastered 2001 shape this pair sits on.
NIGO has been clear about why he picked j-hope. Sole Retriever quotes him calling j-hope "a true ambassador for culture" for the next generation. You can roll your eyes at press lines. This one I buy, because j-hope's styling has been the most sneaker-literate in BTS for years.
Burnt Sunrise, Squirrels and Rope Laces
The full colourway reads Burnt Sunrise/Metallic Gold-Taupe-Chlorine Blue-Arctic Punch-Sail, which is a lot of words for a shoe that actually holds together. Glossy burnt-orange leather wraps the toe, mudguard and eyestay. The toe box and Swoosh shine in metallic gold, and the heel panels drop to two tones of brown. Chlorine Blue shows up in small doses, on the tongue tag and the thin lines either side of the pink AIR on the midsole.
Now the fun part. An embroidered squirrel sits on the lateral heel, and Sneaker Bar Detroit says squirrel graphics inspired by j-hope run through the whole design. The laces are fat rope, red and white. Terry lines the collar. Flip it over and the outsole is deep brick red.
Can You Buy the j-hope AF1 in India?
Not easily. Nike's India help page says SNKRS Web "will not be offered going forward", and since February 2026 Nykaa runs Nike.com operations here, which we unpacked in our Nike India and Nykaa piece. When we checked on 20 October, the shoe was not in Superkicks' catalogue either. No Indian release has been announced.
So most Indian buyers will be importing, and the maths is not kind. At ₹95.05 to the dollar (open.er-api.com, 20 October 2026), $150 is about ₹14,258 before shipping. Footwear coming into India pays 20 percent basic customs duty, a 20 percent agriculture cess on that duty, a 10 percent social welfare surcharge, then 18 percent IGST on the lot, a total of 49.15 percent according to the ICEGATE-based calculator at EximPe. That puts a retail pair at roughly ₹21,266 landed, and that still leaves out freight and the forwarder's fee.
Compare that with a regular Air Force 1 '07, which goes for ₹9,995 to ₹10,995 at Indian retailers. Double the money. What it buys is squirrels, glossy leather and a Human Hope logo on the heel.
One warning for anyone searching for a j-hope AF1 pre-order in India. Nobody here has stock before 22 October. A page taking full payment for a "pre-order" this week is selling a promise, not a pair, and promises are the easiest thing to fake.
Is the Hype Real?
Partly. Resale first: there is no settled StockX market yet. The product page is up, but the shoe only goes worldwide on Thursday, so any premium quoted to you this week is a guess dressed as a price. Wait for the first weekend of sales before trusting a number.
My take on the shoe itself: it is the best-looking AF1 of NIGO's tour so far, and it will be the hardest to get. Pairing a Japanese streetwear name with one of K-pop's biggest stars means SNKRS demand from fans who have never entered a draw before. That crowd does not flip. They wear. Which means fewer pairs on the market later, not more.
Honestly, if you are not a fan, skip the import premium. The gloss and the rope laces will look dated faster than a clean '07. If you are ARMY, this is the one j-hope pair worth chasing, and it is a wear-it shoe, not a shelf piece. Standard AF1 Lows usually run about half a size big, but we have not had the '01 last on foot, so check Nike's size chart before you commit.
Styling is easier than the colour list suggests. The shoe wants earth tones: brown or olive cargos, cream wide-leg denim, a plain white tee, and nothing else trying to be loud. It also suits the festive season here better than most AF1s. Burnt orange and gold sit well next to a rust or beige kurta, which is not something you can say about a Triple White.
How to Try for a Pair From India
Your options are limited. A friend or family member abroad with a SNKRS account is the cleanest route. Failing that, resellers will list it within hours of the drop. If you go that way, ask the seller to run a free check on SneakerAuth, our AI legit check, and send you the certificate link before any money moves. A pair this loud will be faked fast.
Before that link arrives, do the basic checks yourself. The style code on the box sticker and on the tongue label must both read IO8766-800. The squirrel on the heel should be dense, raised embroidery with a clean blue outline, not a flat print. The rope laces should be thick and evenly twisted. And the metallic gold should look like gold, not mustard.
K-pop and sneakers keep crossing over, as Lisa's Nike Moon Shoe campaign showed last month. If you want an Air Force 1 without the import maths, see the Nike pairs we have in stock.
