Inside the One Piece x Nike Devil Fruit Lab

Comfortably to Paris in 3.5 hours with NS International, watching a few episodes of One Piece on the train to get in the mood. The occasion was the European launch event of the One Piece x Nike collection. The teams behind .SWOOSH and SNKRS had turned a venue into the Devil Fruit Lab, where that One Piece x Nike collaboration took centre stage. We at Sneakerjagers were there.

To launch the collection worldwide, Nike set up several events. A week earlier Tokyo hosted the Circus, and while Patta in Amsterdam saw plenty of camping again, the party moved to Paris last weekend. The lab's name pointed straight at the anime: the two sneaker colorways are named after Devil Fruits, the Gomu Gomu no Mi that gives Monkey D. Luffy his rubber powers and the Ope Ope no Mi of Trafalgar Law.

On arrival we received a handful of goodies to use inside the lab, from a SNKRS Paris tote to a "Dr. B's Research Laboratory" notebook. First up was a T-shirt you could customise yourself: at a long counter full of stickers and patches, everyone left with their own version.

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The styling carried the laboratory theme all the way through. Staff walked around in white lab coats, the counter read "In our world, Devil Fruits are Nikes", and further along stood an arcade-style Cooking Machine for food and drinks. A DJ handled the music, and in an interactive room you could mimic the powers from the series yourself. For a moment you weren't a viewer but a participant.

The collection was displayed fully in style. One of the Air Max Plus pairs, the red-and-green Ope Ope, floated on adjustable arms above its shoebox, while a mock newspaper, the Snkrs Gazette, broke down the silhouette's Tuned Air tech. Between the activities we spoke with visitors about their favourite release.

The release in brief

The One Piece x Nike collection revolves around two versions of the Nike Air Max Plus, a silhouette whose flowing gradients suit this kind of theme well. The 'Gomu Gomu' (style code IR0968-500) comes in a colorway around Space Purple and Atomic Green, the 'Ope Ope' (IW1282-600) in Very Berry with Green Quartz. Both carry a retail price of 189.99 euro. There's also the Devil's Fruit clothing collection 'Gomu Gomu' from 49.99 euro.

The One Piece x Nike collection is now out: both sneakers and the apparel have been available since Friday 25 September at 09:00 via Nike and SNKRS.

Keep an eye on the release calendar so you never miss a drop, use the sneaker search engine to compare more models and download the Sneakerjagers app to always be first to know.