The World Cup is 101 days away, and Nike has finally revealed what their teams will be wearing in the tournament. One of the most interesting things about these new kits is that Nike’s Considered innovations are in each kit, as they are made from recycled plastic bottles. Each kit contains up to 8 bottles worth of recycled plastic.
Check out some close ups after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Nike Sportswear has teamed up with 6 emerging artists from 6 countries and have given them the design liberty to create alternative National Team Kits that flip the script on the classic football kit. In order to accomplish this, the Nike team asked artists contribute a badge, mascot, print and an alphabet in their handwriting style. I’m very pleased with their selection of Mr. Cartoon to represent the U.S. as I have nothing but respect for his work.
Check out the rest of the pieces, including an awesome eagle illustration of his after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Nike’s new short film, Human Chain, celebrates the intensity, dynamism and determination that connects athletes in all sports and motivates them to inspiring performances.
From Lance Armstrong on his bike, to a six-year-old studying martial arts, movement is the universal language that connects the athlete in everyone.
This is a simple visual idea executed with precision by Wieden+Kennedy; a creative agency I’ve always dreamed of working with. W+K, holler at EC sometime…
Right before DJ AM passed, it was announced that he had been working with Swoosh on his own kicks. No one knew when they were coming out, but most salivated over the sample photos. Our friends at Niche in Charlotte just announced that they will be receiving the highly-anticipated Nike x DJ AM Dunk High Quickstrike sneaker on January 9th. We’re still unsure as to which (if any) accounts in Atlanta will be receiving these kicks, but I wouldn’t be surprised if our buds at Standard get them. Stay tuned… It’s confirmed. Standard will also be receiving these on January 9th. Let the lines begin!
will be available on Friday, December 18th at Nike Sportswear’s 21 Mercer location in NYC. Stay tuned to find out more info on how to get your hands on one.
Finally! You can customize your very own pair on Nike Air Max 1’s online at NikeiD.com. This is something I’ve been looking forward to doing for a long time. Just don’t copy my Poppyseed Bagel, Lox, & Cream Cheese inspired pair.
You don’t need to understand Portuguese (or Turkish) to see the storytelling here. Clearly Luis Fabiano and Brazil are gunning hard for the World Cup in South Africa. I wonder what a campaign like this with Landon Donovan would be received by American audiences…
While in Ohio last week, Nike invited our group to LeBron James‘ high school in Akron for a special event that had me grinning ear-to-ear. Check out my walk-through of St. V-M and a little extra after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Footwear designer, Jason Petrie, speaks about working with LeBron James on the Air Max LeBron VII. This is a rare opportunity to look under-the-hood of a highly anticipated sneaker. Over the weekend, I had a chance to speak with Jason about his design inspirations in Cleveland and I look forward to learning more from him in the future. Thanks to Nike for keeping the pathway between us designers wide-open!
Check out some of his preliminary sketches after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
This morning, at the Ed Davis Community Center in Akron, Ohio, Lebron James unveiled his new sneaker to a room full of local student athletes, media reps, and the rest of the world via webcast. Also present were sneaker designer Jason Petrie of Nike and the MC of the morning was one of my favorite comedians, Kenan Thompson from Saturday Night Live.
I want to jump right in and call out important design aspects of the new sneaker:
•The sneaker took 18 months from design conception to finished product.
• The most notable change from LeBron’s old models is the drastic changeover from Zoom Air to a full Air Max unit on the bottom of the shoe. This is the first time a full Air Max bag has been used in a basketball product.
• Since LeBron is a big player, his needs in a shoe require for it to be able to take a beating on court. However Nike was challenged to making the shoe more durable while simultaneously making it lighter in weight. Therefore, they employed Flywire technology, which we have seen previously in many performance products as well as a lot of the Nike Sportswear offerings in the Flymotion Cortez and Air Maxim.
• Jason Petrie wanted to focus in a day in the life of LeBron James as his inspiration. Calling from his lifestyle, be it luxury hotels, automobiles, high-end fashion, and on-court basketball references.
• The outsole has 5 flex grooves, representing the 5 players on the basketball court.
• The midsection bears 23 stripes, referencing his number.
• The outsole features a 3D decoder key which, when the shoe is rotated, displays LeBron’s credos — Passion, Fearless, Tradition, Community, Family & Loyalty
• 7 Flywire strands on the tongue reference the 7th model in his signature shoe series with Nike.
Finally, LeBron will be embarking on a 10 city world tour starting next week to promote his new sneaker in addition to a documentary about him titled, More than a Game
The sneaker itself will be released on October 24th, 2009. Check out more angles and colorways after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m headed to the land of King James to discover the life, story, and design behind this. Stay tuned to see more…
I love coming into The Treehouse and being greeting by new mail from buddies all over the world. Today, we opened a package from Chris who runs the humble blog Life After Midnight and works as a design intern for NYC brand, 3Sixteen that I’ve become a huge fan of.
We’ve been tasked to customize this pair of Vans Chukkas for a charity show taking place in Canada next year. Other participating artists include SoleFood NYC, Blaine Fontana, and Mark Dean Veca. They will be auctioned off with all profits going to the Winnipeg Children’s Hospital. How cool is that!?!
Also, keep tabs on Life After Midnight, as I’ll be participating in the Monday Morning Playlist interview series as soon as I can narrow down my tracklist!
Really cool commercial. Excellent execution!
All you sneaker buffs should head over to the Nike Sportswear website to check out their new feature about the Air Max lineage. There are great downloadable OG posters, videos explaining the evolution of the Air Max 1 to the newly released/redesigned Air Maxim, and this sweet design-centric timeline.
