How do you go about equipping a warrior for court warfare and building a lasting relationship between a brand and player?
The Nike Zoom Generation had to deliver. It represented the start of a
relationship with a young phenomenon named LeBron James. The Nike Zoom
Generation’s lead designer, Aaron Cooper, was one of the first Nike
employees to be in contact with LeBron. After being shown some of
Cooper’s earlier works, LeBron was asked what he was looking for beyond
the looks. Without missing a beat James responded, “Comfort.”
For a designer, this gave the brief a fresh perspective. As Cooper recalls, “I
was actually really excited to focus and build a signature product
around comfort. I told him right after, ‘We will design you the most
comfortable basketball shoe you have ever worn. Period.’"
Further conversations defined the Nike Zoom Generation’s visual
direction and infusion of LeBron James’ personality. This was a player
who transcended Force, Flight or Uptempo. The big idea that surfaced was
that LeBron was a modern soldier, a remarkable player who immediately
turned heads with his freakish athleticism. His combination of size and
speed was unlike anything the world had seen.
That led to a unique field boot styling, plus wheel-like eyelets with
rugged vehicular inspiration and scope-inspired flash mirror coatings
on reflective panels with concealed logos.
LeBron’s affinity with lions — going back to his early school days —
were applied to the sole, inspired by a lion digging its claws into the
ground while hunting its prey. In the quest for ultimate comfort, a
newly-developed soft foam that formed around the foot and full-length
Zoom Air, double stacked at the heel, were honed to perfection.
On being handed the Nike Zoom Generation in his size by Cooper, “LeBron
put them on, jumped up about four to five times, stopped and said,
‘These are the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn.’”
Mission accomplished.
No comments:
Post a Comment