Air yeezy, which takes
Kanye West’s nickname Yeezy, draws upon the innovations from Nike’s rich
sporting history and fuses them with original lines, materials, and
design elements that reflect West’s unique style.
From the
start, West and Nike’s shared vision was clear: to create a modern
classic. An original Nike footwear style that reflects elements of
Nike’s sporting past, and remixes them with Nike innovation to deliver a
unique shoes.
A careful balance was sought, each time new elements were added, with existing elements being taken away – a design process Smith refers to as “reductionism”. “Nike shoes need to function and always be innovative,” said Smith. “So the first thing we did was to make sure the design process that Kanye and Nike Design went through, mirrored that of our athletes.” “I’ve been designing Nike’s in my sketch pad since the fourth grade,” said West. “So to say I’ve been prepared for this would be an understatement. The really fun and challenging part for me was learning about Nike’s design process, learning more about fabrics and functions and colorways, and all of the details that go into designing a shoe of this quality.”
Following the fabled tradition of Nike’s design process, West and Smith went through a series of one-on-one design sessions. At Nike the ultimate test is one of performance, where the design meets the athlete’s movements. “Kanye could wear and perform in these shoes and really identify how we could make the shoes perform better.” Supplanting center court with center stage, West provided critical feedback on how the shoe performed throughout the course of his 2-3 hour performance sets, where the first prototypes of the Nike Yeezy were seen outside of Nike’s World Headquarters in Beaverton, OR.

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