How To Spot Fake Off-White Air Force 1 Yellow (2024)

Last Updated on January 9, 2024 by Ch David

This is the ultimate Off-White Air Force 1 Yellow authentication guide:

• University Gold
• Canary Yellow
• Lemonade
• ICA

All these names refer to the Off-White Air Force 1 Yellow.

In this guide, we’ll take you through the 14 ways to spot fake Off-White Yellow Air Force 1.

Compare your shoes against our fake vs real Off-White Air Force 1 Yellow to deem whether they’re original or not.

Not the guide you need? Check these out:

• Off-White Air Force 1 OG
• Off-White Air Force 1 Black
• Off-White Air Force 1 Volt
• Off-White Air Force 1 MCA
• Off-White Air Force 1 ComplexCon
• Off-White Air Force 1 MoMA
• Off-White Air Force 1 Brooklyn

For now, let’s stick with the Yellow Air Force 1s.

How to tell if Off-White Yellow Air Force 1s are fake

The best way to spot fake Off-White Air Force 1 Yellow is checking the medial text on both the left and on the right shoes. Fakes never have their text at the right thickness.

Original pairs mean quality. Nike manufactures all their shoes at the highest possible quality.

Long way ahead. Let’s go!

1. Medial text

1.1. Left shoe

• First Line of Text and “TM” Placement:
  • Authentic: “TM” is smaller, farther from “Off-White.”
  • Fake: “TM” is larger, too close to “Off-White.”
• “for” and “NIKE”
  • Authentic: Words “for” and “NIKE” are thinner.
  • Fake: These words are too thick and bulky.
• Bottom Text (“c. 1982”):
  • Authentic: Inscription is thinner.
  • Fake: Inscription is thicker.

1.2. Right shoe

• “Off-White” Text:
  • Authentic: Text is thinner.
  • Fake: Text is too thick.
• “TM” Text:
  • Authentic: Text is thinner.
  • Fake: Text is thicker.
• Bottom Text (“Oregon” and “USA”):
  • Authentic: Text is thinner, consistent font.
  • Fake: Text is too thick, inconsistent.

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Finding it too hard? Reach out to our Nike x Off-White experts:

2. Size tag

• “VY” Factory Inscription:
  • Authentic: Text is thicker and bigger.
  • Fake: Text is too thin and small.
• “DD1876-700” Style-Code Text:
  • Authentic: Text is thicker and bigger.
  • Fake: Text is too thin and small.
• UPC Code of the Shoes:
  • Authentic: Text is thick, with shadow-like effect.
  • Fake: Text is too perfect, lacks shadow.
• Country of Manufacturing’s Print:
  • Authentic: “MADE IN VIETNAM” is thicker, multi-language.
  • Fake: Text is too thin.
• Chinese Size Inscription (“CN”):
  • Authentic: “CN” text is thicker.
  • Fake: “CN” text is too thin.

3. Back

• “NIKE” Text:
  • Authentic: The “NIKE” text is thinner and more legible.
  • Fake: The text appears too thick and less visible.
• “A I R” Text:
  • Authentic: The “A I R” text is thicker and wider.
  • Fake: This text is too thin and boxy.
• Vertical Stitching on Sides of Middle Patch:
  • Authentic: The stitching is thinner and shorter.
  • Fake: Stitching is too thick and long.

4. Footbed

Remove the insoles to access the footbed.

• Authentic: Higher stitching density with less empty space between the threads.
• Fake: Fewer stitches and more blank space between them, indicating lower stitching density.

A quick mention:

• The steps we’ve written so far are the BEST ways to authenticate this item
• The next few steps are still reliable methods…
• … but they apply to non-top-versions of replicas available for this item

If in doubt, we recommend double-checking the steps we’ve explained above this line.

5. Perforations

• Authentic: Features narrower and slimmer perforations on the toe box.
• Fake: The perforations on the toe box are noticeably wider, differing from the authentic pair.

6. Toe box

• Authentic: The toe box on the authentic pair is shorter and less stretched, giving it a smaller appearance.
• Fake: The toe box on the fake pair is noticeably higher and the material appears to be stretched more, making it look larger than on the authentic pair.

7. Swoosh

Two sides of the Swoosh will be inspected:

• The stitching on the logo.
• The two perforations below.

7.1. Stitching

1. Stitching
   • Authentic: The stitches around the Swoosh on the authentic pair are thicker and cover more of the grey surface of the logo.
   • Fake: On the counterfeit pair, the stitches are both too thick and too short, covering less of the grey surface of the Swoosh.
2. Perforations
   • Authentic: The two perforations located below the Swoosh on the authentic pair are closer to the logo and larger in size.
   • Fake: On the fake pair, these perforations are noticeably smaller and are positioned too far away from the Swoosh.

8. Insole

• Authentic: The “NIKE” text on the authentic Off-White Air Force 1 University Gold pair is thicker and bulkier.
• Fake: On the fake pair, the “NIKE” text is noticeably thinner, making it easier to distinguish from the authentic version.

9. Midsole

• Authentic: The stitching on the midsole of the authentic Off-White Air Force 1 University Gold is thinner and the threads are wider.
• Fake: The fake pair features stitching that is both too thick and too boxy, contrasting with the more refined stitching of the authentic pair.

10. Tongue

• Authentic: The “OFF” text on the authentic pair is thinner and protrudes less from the white badge.
• Fake: The fake pair’s “OFF” text is noticeably thicker and sticks out more from the badge.

11. “AIR”

• Authentic: The quotation marks (” “) on the authentic pair are shorter and boxier.
• Fake: On the fake pair, the quotation marks (” “) are noticeably longer.

12. Orange tab

• Authentic: The orange tab on the authentic pair is vibrant and saturated.
• Fake: On the fake pair, the orange tab appears lighter and less saturated.

13. Box

• Authentic: The text “UNIVERSITY GOLD / OR UNIVERSITE” on the authentic box label is thinner.
• Fake: This text on the fake box label appears too thick and bulky.

14. “SHOELACES”

• Authentic: The letters, especially the “S,” are thinner and narrower on the authentic laces.
• Fake: The text is too thick and the letters “S” appear too wide on the fake laces.

Shortlist: Authenticate in ~30 seconds

1. Inspect the medial text on both shoes. Replicas often have incorrectly thickened text.
2. Examine the size tag. Fake Off-White AF1 University Gold sneakers frequently display overly thin text.
3. Review the details on the rear side. Counterfeit versions usually have text and stitches of incorrect thickness or length.
4. Observe the footbed stitching. Fakes often feature stitches that are too sparse.
5. Check the toe box perforations. Many replicas have overly wide perforations.
6. Assess the toe box’s inflation level. Fake versions tend to be overly elevated.
7. Authenticate the Nike Swoosh logo. Counterfeit pairs often showcase improper stitching length and misplaced holes.
8. Inspect the “NIKE” text on the insole. Fakes typically have an incorrect font weight.
9. Verify midsole stitches. Replicas usually have overly thick stitches.
10. Check the badge on the tongue for accurate character boldness.
11. Examine the “AIR” text. Fake pairs often have elongated quotation marks.
12. Compare the shade of the orange tab. Counterfeit versions may be lighter and less vibrant.
13. Review the box’s label for correct font weight.
14. Look at the “SHOELACES” text, as many fakes feature overly thick text.

Going through each step can be time-consuming when you need quick authentication.

For a faster approach, we’ve summarized a 60-second guide to verify your pair.

Expert Off-White Air Force 1 Yellow authentication service

• Simply send us clear photos of your Off-White Air Force 1 Yellow.
• We’ll send the authenticity report in less than 48 hours.

This concludes our guide on how to tell fake Off-White Air Force 1 in Yellow.

Thank you for reading!

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Alternatively, use our free resources: written guides and video tutorials.

Thank you for reading this,

Ch Daniel and Ch David