Tips for spotting fake Nike Air Force 1 sneakers

In the world of sneakers, few styles last. Those that do are the true classics and trends that make the transition to staples. They are consistently worn by shoe enthusiasts and the general public alike. The white Air Force 1 is one of the best-selling shoes of all time. Ten years ago, sporting goods analyst Matt Powell said the shoe sold around 12 million pairs in 2005 alone. More than two decades after its debut, the Air Force 1 is still Nike's second best-seller, according to Powell. Yet buying and selling trainers online can seem complicated with so many scammers and high-quality fakes on the market. Indeed, it can be difficult to know what's genuine and what's counterfeit. In this article you'll find the best ways to spot fake Nike Air Force 1 trainers.

1. Perforations and seams

One of the most common ways to see if an Air Force 1 trainer is fake or not is to check the front seams and the perforations (the holes in the toe area). As you can see from the photos below, the gap between the bottom of the seam and the top of the flap is much longer on the fake Air Force 1 shoe. Also, although it's more of a minor stitch, the top two seam lines are on the bias.

So, looking at the perforations, imagine connecting a line through each point. The top three points, as seen in the photo on the left, are slightly uneven in terms of alignment. If this continues all the way through the toe area for all the dots, it probably means that the Nike Aire Force 1 is a knock-off. Another clue is the spacing between the dots and whether they are identical on each dot. In some cases, the holes are too big or too small, but they sometimes come in different shapes and sizes on counterfeit Air Force 1 pairs. In addition, the fake perforations on Air Force 1 trainers appear in most cases not to be fully perforated, revealing inferior manufacturing equipment.

On the left a fake Nike Air Force 1 trainer, on the right a genuine Nike Air Force 1 trainer.

2. The shape of the Nike Swoosh logo

It's a good idea to take a closer look at the stitching on the Nike Swoosh logo on the Air Force 1. Be careful, as it can be difficult to spot the difference at first glance, but paying attention to the following attributes can help spot a counterfeit. In the fake vs real Nike Air Force 1 image below, we've highlighted two main flaws for fake Air Force 1 trainers.

Most of the time, Nike Air Force 1 counterfeits will have their Nike Swoosh logo curved differently at the front. In fact, fake pairs of Air Force 1s will have the curvature of their Swoosh logo more sudden, whereas the curvature of the authentic Swoosh is more "natural" and smoother.

This curve problem on the fake Nike Air Force 1 pairs makes their Swoosh logo look higher, whereas the genuine Nike trainers always have and they will always have the correct pattern, as in the image below. Secondly, on the back of the Nike Swoosh logo, the problem is exactly reversed on the logo side. In fact, on the back of the Nike Swoosh logo, you can see how the fake Swoosh on the Nike Air Force 1 pair is placed further away from the insole of the trainers whereas on the authentic trainers, the Swoosh is placed much closer to the insole of the shoes.

On the left a fake Nike Air Force 1 trainer, on the right a genuine Nike Air Force 1 trainer.

3. Logo label on heel

While all the other areas mentioned above can be harder to distinguish, the heel tag is another place where you can identify a fake Air Force 1. You can see from the image on the left below that the second lower leg of the K is much longer. As you can see, the letters in 'AIR' or 'NIKE' are not all evenly aligned. There also appears to be very little spacing between each letter in the word NIKE compared to the text in the correct image.

Each letter on the left also appears to have a different thickness. What's more, if you zoom in close to the seam edge of each letter, the fake sneaker shows more intricate work as it appears to be more engraved. In the case of a real Air Force 1, the thickness of the stitching is uniform on each letter as well as on the swoosh. In addition, the letters are evenly aligned and consistent in size. It's important to bear in mind that the left leg of the 'R' in AIR is supposed to be slightly shorter (as shown in the image on the right).

On the left a fake Nike Air Force 1 trainer, on the right a genuine Nike Air Force 1 trainer.

4. The toe area

In this section we're going to look at the toe area at the front of the trainer. What we call "the toe box" is the area where your toes fit inside the trainer. Most of the time, the toe area of fake Air Force 1 trainers is either too big (over-inflated) or too small.

Not just for Nike Air Force 1 trainers, but for just about every pair of fake trainers, the toe is a common flaw. In the images below, you can see how the toe area of the fake pair of Nike Air Force 1 trainers looks much more curved and raised, whereas the toe area of the genuine Nike trainers looks lower and less swollen. To be clear, almost every time, the toe area of the fake trainers will look too swollen, meaning that the fake shoes look too bowed and curved at the front compared to the authentic Nike trainers.

On the left a fake Nike Air Force 1 trainer, on the right a genuine Nike Air Force 1 trainer.

Secure your Nike Air Force 1 trainers with Obvy

Once you've looked at all the details below to authenticate your Nike Air Force 1s, it's a good idea to secure your purchase at checkout. To do this, opt for a secure payment method like Obvy, which allows you to secure your transactions between private individuals by hand and delivery.

Thanks to Obvy, you have 72 hours from receipt of the parcel or hand delivery to check whether the trainers are genuine. If there's a problem, simply report it and you'll be able to get your money back as quickly as possible.