Dior has set up a microsite for the launch of its collaboration with Nike’s Air Jordan 1. What was the “exclusive online experience” like?

It was supposed to be the most anticipated sneaker launch. And then it was announced that scoring a pair would be possible online only. Less than an hour before the first-come-first-served arrangement (in fact, a registration exercise) was made known. Dior was certain to emphasise the “exclusive online experience”. In fact, in a press advisory, it stated:

Please use this exact wording for the launch: “exclusive online experience”

We are, unfortunately, unable to highlight the text within the inverted commas in fluorescent yellow to illustrate how it appeared in our inbox. Believing that it would be an experience, we clicked on the link to explore.

Rare is the website that is monochromatic—Dior’s is. Created to spotlight their collaboration with Air Jordan, it is entry into a flat, soundless world. The experience, which would be no more than five minutes, is low-key to the point of  blandness. If you are hoping for song and dance, you’ve arrived at the wrong shoe store.

In the main page, the star sneaker Air Jordan 1 OG—first released in 1985 and is touted by Nike as “the one that started it all”—is spotlighted in two out of the three sub-windows. In the first, photos of four angles of the sneakers and two close-ups of the the monogrammed Swoosh detail; in the second, some stills of the making of the shoes, and in the third, four pictures of the Air Dior capsule collection.

If you are not interested in the marcom of the shoe, you can just click ‘enter’, and you will be linked to the page where you can choose which of the two available styles you desire. Then another page appears, and you select the size of the shoe, and fill in your personal details. Payment is not (yet) requested. You’ll receive an SMS notifying you when you can go to the ION Orchard store (only one) to drool at your kicks.

That’s it. No more experiential than ordering from Nike’s website. In fact, the Swoosh’s own SNKRS app is more explorable (unfortunately the said shoe isn’t available here). Dior’s emphasis on the “experience” aspect of a mere reservation exercise is an over-sell.

We visited the microsite at midnight, five hours after reservations opened. It looked to us that all sizes were still available. About an hour or so after, when we returned to the bookmarked page, we were greeted by a large box above ‘Enter’ that read: “reservation closed”. That was fast! Perhaps an experience prolonged is no experience at all.

Screen grabs: capsule.dior.com