It’s official, Kyrie Irving is the next signature athlete for Nike to usher in a new era. With the unveiling of the Kyrie 1, a lot of information about what it means to have a signature model with Nike, and the overall design process for the new signature on court model comes along with it. So enjoy and indulge in the precise art form that is designing a signature model for a world class athlete in the press release below.
Via Nike INC:
Nike’s 42-year legacy of signature athletes is bolstered today with the addition of its newest member, Kyrie Irving, and his first shoe, the KYRIE 1. The honor bestowed on Irving is something that he earned through the hungry yet humble approach he brings to competing at basketball’s highest level.
“As a kid, imagining that I’d be in the Nike family with my own shoe was something that seemed almost unattainable,” said Irving. “Now that I’ve received the KYRIE 1 I’m honored to represent Nike and its next generation of players.”
INNOVATION MEETS INSPIRATION
When designer Leo Chang and team began the design process of the KYRIE 1, the goal was to build a shoe to match Irving’s tremendous speed and quickness. The KYRIE 1 needed to be light, bold and responsive with the best traction Nike Basketball could develop for Irving’s prolific first step.
After months of meticulous testing and feedback, the KYRIE 1 was created to deliver three primary benefits:
- Pinpoint responsiveness with Nike Zoom Air cushioning in the forefoot.
- Dynamic grip with a 360-degree dynamic traction pattern wrapping the shoe’s sidewalls.
- Ultra support and breathability with Hyperfuse construction for lockdown stability.
His first signature shoe, the KYRIE 1, lives up to the performance and storytelling expectations set by previous signature kicks:
- The new Kyrie Irving logo on the shoe’s tongue represents his inner strength and hunger to learn.
- Hand-written details in Irving’s penmanship: #2 on the upper heel along with his personal signature on the inside of the tongue.
- Jagged pattern on the wrapped traction near the toe and heel counter with architectural angles are both inspired by the Sydney Opera House in Irving’s homeland of Australia.
- The acronym “JBY” that sits beneath Irving’s new logo on the outsole stands for “Just Be You,” a motto that Irving hopes inspires kids as they establish their own unique identities.
COLORWAY STORIES
Each of these distinctions appear on all KYRIE 1 colorways. Individual stories come to life on each colorway beginning with the KYRIE 1 Dream. Irving often dreamt of waking up on Christmas morning and lacing up for a game professionally – a dream that will come true when Cleveland plays in Miami on Christmas day. The black-based shoe features geometric, colorful objects specific to Irving’s life journey, including stars from the Australian flag, a skateboard, his jersey number and a brass musical instrument.
The KYRIE 1 Deceptive Red is the lead colorway globally; it takes inspiration from Irving’s phenomenal quickness and accelerated first step.
BRIGHT FUTURE
The bar is set high for Irving based on his family pedigree, international experiences, thirst for knowledge and reluctance to fail. Irving’s role model remains his father Drederick, once a professional basketball star in Australia, who demonstrated great character as a single father raising three kids.
“My family means everything to me,” said Irving. “My father led by example and taught me how to become a stand-up man both on and off the court. You get what you give, and I’ll never take life or any opportunity for granted.”
The KYRIE 1 is currently available for customization on NIKEiD; the KYRIE 1 Dream colorway will be available in North America on Dec. 23 in adult and kids sizes at nike.com and select retail destinations. The KYRIE 1 Deceptive Red colorway is available globally on Jan. 10, 2015. Along with the shoe, special KYRIE 1 T-shirts, hats and socks will also be available.
This shoe is looks great!!!
these will be garbage can already tell traction wont be able to handle dust, the heel cushion is bad, nike will give us bad zoom air in the front, and the upper wont be durable… pass would rather have the jwalls
That traction looks beastly, sure dust will affect it, but I think it’s at least a 9 just based of off looking at it.
i don’t know, if there is only forefoot zoom, i would expect articulated zoom at least.
honestly, zoom is 20 years old tech and Nike reuses it over and over again on its lowest form (the small strip on forefoot) making me puke.
Come on, not like articulated zoom is something new, just put it there to show us you have heart to make a so call “performance” model.
The traction looks great. Nike has been on a roll with their traction lately, i don’t see why the Kyrie 1 would be anything less.
The traction is similar to d rose 3s, and Kobe 8’s. And both of those have great traction. Traction Is not the issue here, but these are UGLY.
Way to do alot of bitching
I rather have hyperfuse 2014 than this,atleast i know the heel have a zoom unit,but there is always room for improvement..
I hate the jagged part on the front.
I don’t think KI should get a sig before the Beard.
I think Anthony Davis should have been before Kyrie. He is the 3rd best player in the league right now with no other superstars on his team plus he’s only gonna get better.
Anthony Davis hasnt been in the NBA for long enough in my opinion. Sure, he may be really good, but he hasnt made as big of a name of himself just yet in the NBA.
Big Men don’t Sell
It looks a lot like the earlier Kd models.
The traction is a beast
they should have use mega fuse nike stop using old carp especially on a signature and stop giving us these bull crap zoom bags
i think the new phylon or phylite they use like with the revs and the roshe are ok for heel cushion. my roshe still soft in the heels.
Read the tech specs without minding that this is supposed to be the Kyrie 1, sounded like a team model to me.
y’all seem to be forgetting that this is his FIRST signature shoe, what did you expect, that nike would lace the shoe with premium tech and put it in the kobe/lebron price bracket? look at what adidas are doing with lillard and wall, nike are doing the same, putting out a good performer at a relatively reasonable price for a star with a growing fanbase, it’s what happened with KD, too….
i’m not a big fan of these, either, but i do very much like how it’s flat, looks low to the ground, has all the features you would need from a no-nonsense, lace-and-go basketball shoe for folks who play a grounded game and need something stable….a shoe for me, then!
Exactly when I first seen the shoe it reminded me of the kobe 1 and kd 1, it’s like everyone expecting top of line materials. Repeat of what you said it’s his first shoe and there’s time for it to grow, no one really started gravitating to kd’s line until his 4th sig so give it a chance especially at $110. Plus you can’t knock it till you try it. Watching a review helps but until it’s on your feet you won’t know what it feels like
It’s same price as the Run The One right? The Run The one has heel zoom, but the seem to have better traction.
Yeah it’s true. They start small, to see if people are even interested. They wanna see how many people will buy so they can see how much improvement they’ll need in the next kyrie shoe
Exactly! Nike likes to at least warm you up, by that I mean take you to dinner and a movie then they #$%^ you! An by that I mean raise the prices on the shoe. Give it 3-4 years TOPS it’ll be up there with every other 180+ shoe out.
i see nike doing the same thing a they did with KD’s line, started like a low-budget signature, but now that KDs line has raised it’s price a bit, they unveil the new low budget sig, so they keep people interested, not a bad way to make money nike, well played