John Kim Nike’s recent bill-collecting activity has come to surface through some legal documents shared by @SneakerLegal on X. This time around, they’ve come after RSVP Gallery, the Chicago-based retail/community hub co-founded by Don C and Virgil Abloh.
According to public documents, Nike has suede Donald Crawley Jr. aka Don C for $190,191.95 plus interest for products provided to RSVP Gallery.
Although business is business, this is a bit difficult to swallow as Don C himself played an integral role in connecting Nike with a lot of active collaborative partners today including Virgil Abloh, Easy Otabor, and Aleali May. Additionally, Don C is credited for generating a ton of interest to the Air Jordan 2 through his 2015 collaboration, one that many considered the best sneaker release of that year.
Sources close to Sneaker News have claimed that Jordan Brand promised Don C a number of Air Jordan collaborations after the AJ2, but none came to fruition. Crawley did partner with Nike/Jordan on a few other models including the Jordan Legacy 312 and one of the silhouettes from the Air Force 100 campaign.
Crawley also has his own sports/luxury label Just Don and has collaborated with several top global brands such as Mitchell & Ness, LVMH, and more. Don C was also the former manager of Kanye West as well as an executive on Ye’s G.O.O.D. Music label.
Earlier this year in August, Edison Chen’s Juice retail imprint was sued by Nike for $126,500 in unpaid bills, although the first reported figure sounded far worse to the tune of $126+ million. It turned out to be a clerical error, and the actual dollar amount was just a fraction of that cost.
What is RSVP Gallery?
RSVP Gallery is a retail store and community space located in Chicago, Illinois. It was co-founded by Don C and Virgil Abloh.
Why is Nike suing RSVP Gallery?
Nike is suing RSVP Gallery for the amount of $190,191.95 due to unpaid bills. Nike supplies RSVP Gallery with products; the lawsuit states that RSVP Gallery has not made payment.
