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VLONE built streetwear's hottest Nike collab — then one video killed it
Nike cut ties with VLONE founder A$AP Bari after a widely shared video of his conduct with a woman — the brand never recovered from the lost partnership
VLONE · Nike · 2017-07-31
What happened
VLONE was founded around 2011 by A$AP Bari, a founding member of the A$AP Mob collective alongside A$AP Rocky. The brand's logo hoodies and tees became streetwear staples, worn by everyone from Kanye West to Travis Scott. VLONE's biggest moment came in 2017 with the VLONE × Nike Air Force 1 — a collaboration that produced the iconic orange-swoosh AF1, one of the most hyped sneakers of the year. VLONE showed its first runway collection at Paris Fashion Week in June 2017. Nike had planned additional city-exclusive colorways. The brand was at its peak.
In mid-July 2017, a video surfaced that appeared to show A$AP Bari assaulting a woman at a London hotel. The footage spread rapidly through social media. A$AP Rocky called Bari out on stage at the Agenda trade show. Playboi Carti said publicly: 'That's my brother, but that n***a — he did wrong bro.' On July 31, 2017, Nike confirmed it had ended its relationship with Bari and VLONE. The planned additional Air Force 1 colorways were cancelled. The brand's biggest commercial asset was gone in two weeks.
Bari pleaded guilty in London on January 3, 2019, the first day of his trial, to a charge stemming from the video. He was fined £4,500 and ordered to pay £2,500 in compensation. The sentence meant he avoided jail time, but the damage to his brand was irreversible. Nike never reinstated the partnership. Without Nike, VLONE lost its most powerful platform — the Air Force 1 collaboration had been the brand's primary distribution channel to a mass audience.
VLONE continued to release merchandise through its own website and pop-up shops, but the cultural energy was gone. By 2020, VLONE was accused of plagiarizing other brands' designs. In October 2022, VLONE's own management kicked A$AP Bari out of the brand he founded, citing 'irrational behavior.' The brand that had defined streetwear's Nike collaboration era was reduced to a cautionary tale: a single founder's actions destroyed a multi-million-dollar brand in the time it took a video to go viral.
Why it happened
- VLONE's entire commercial value was tied to its Nike Air Force 1 collaboration. When Nike cut ties after the scandal, the brand lost its primary revenue driver and distribution platform.
- A$AP Bari was the brand's founder, face, and creative director. His personal scandal made the brand toxic to partners, retailers, and consumers overnight.
- The brand had no institutional structure. It was run by Bari and his inner circle with no governance, no succession plan, and no way to survive the founder's removal.
- Nike's response was immediate and final — no second chances, no suspension. In streetwear, a terminated Nike relationship is a death sentence.
The lesson
A streetwear brand built on a single Nike collaboration is a franchise, not a business. When the partner leaves, the brand has nothing left.
Sources
- Hypebeast — Nike Has Ended Its Relationship With A$AP Bari and VLONE (Jul 2017)
- Hypebeast — A$AP Bari Pleads Guilty to Charge From 2017 Video (Jan 2019)
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