Listen to episode 21 of #SDMR below because I will now be streaming it from website. Or you can find it on iTunes or on AppleTV or you can subscribe to the Podcast on your iPhone or you can stream from MuleRadio.com or you can subscribe to it through the MuleRadio App…. you have a few options.

In this weeks episode we recap the Supra party for Lil Wayne and his new Spectre line, explore the Jordan Trunner Dominate Pro, and take a long look at the MVP sneaker that Nike created for LeBron James.

So I am officially a contributor to ComplexSneakers. I must say I am very proud to be associated with a team that not only influences the world but influenced me so much growing up. I am going to do my absolute best to put up a post every week. Check out my first piece, 10 Steps To Becoming A Sneaker Designer.  

Episode 19: The Art of Sneakers

This is one of my favorite episodes we have recorded as my good friend Gotty from the SmokingSection was our guest. Gotty is one of the realest dudes in this blogging/media/sneaker/hiphop thing and he is always there to help me navigate through it. Follow him on Twitter and every other media outlet @johngotty. He provided some great conversation to something him and I email back and forth about all the time, sneakers being an artform. Give it a listen as myself, Jacques and Clyde give our thoughts on why a sneaker is more than just a shoe.

Episode 20: The Road to the Championship

With Kobe injured and Derrick Rose not returning this season, we take a look at how the players effect the sales of a sneaker, and if their lines will live on after they stop playing. Additionally, we discuss the playoff kicks from Jordan Brand and the pricing structure for the Nike LeBron X Elite iD.

Nike Shox Stunner Elite

This concept is one of two that I would say is more of an inspired by the original and not just an update to what existed. I always loved the concept of the original shoe that it featured every Nike technology it could but still did it in a visually effective way. Often times when you start throwing elements from other shoes together the shoe can become uncohesive and quite busy but the original Shox Stunner was a very focused design.

The element that I really wanted to hone in on was the elastic zipper shroud of the original and I also wanted to try and capture some of the imagination the original sketch featured. If you have seen the original sketch it was much higher and a complete sock that really formed to the foot. So I thought by updating the elastic to a zip shroud, similar to the Glove or Air Jordan XX8, that it would be a good evolution. The next element I wanted to focus on was adding a way to create a contoured fit around the foot.

Sometimes shrouds don’t fit the foot perfectly because it is pulling in many directions so I thought to use the molded foam system of the Pro Combat apparel. What I liked about the Pro Combat is that because the material is sipped it allows the forms to bend and shape around the area it is interacting with. So I placed the foam in key fit and support zones to allow the shroud to fit more naturally. I also liked how the Pro Combat features became a driving visual element that really made the shoe be overly aggressive. The shoe felt like it was battle ready, I feel like an Elite player that was on his way to his first NBA Championship would wear it. It’s raw and militaristic, yet refined.

Nike Zoom UltraFlight Elite

The UltraFlight is one of the three shoes that gave me the most challenges and is also, like the Stunner, one of the shoes that I would consider to be more inspired by. The original UltraFlight was so captivating to me because of the transparent heel that was tinted in various colors. It allowed you to see through the shoe and get an understanding for what was happening inside. What made the shoe so challenging was how simple it was. It’s a lot like the Hyperflight where because it is so simple and pure, updating it could completely kill it. So I had to balance the fine line of what to add to it and what to take away from it. And I had to make sure it didn’t end up being too similar to the HyperFlight.

The first and most obvious idea was to make the shoe completely clear. Which is cool but I couldn’t get over the fact that if I made a clear TPU shell it would be the most unflexible and uncomfortably stiff shoe ever. So I started looking at new ways to accomplish that and I came across the shoes I was currently wearing, last years Nike Free 3.0. That shoe is constructed from a lightweight mesh that has a TPU based synthetic welded to it for extra support. So my idea was to take a highly elastic TPU that is transparent and weld it directly to the inner bootie, therefore getting rid of layers and making it lighter.

The end result is a high gloss and perforated elastic TPU upper that sits on top of a completely clear Zoom Air midsole with tinted clear rubber. I think the shoe does a good job of capturing what the original UltraFlight was but also takes it in a new direction. There are a couple of areas that I would like to refine, primarily the overall proportion of the shape. I think it looks a little heavy. I was trying to keep it looking like the natural shape of your foot since it was so elastic but I think it needs a little streamlining to give it more speed.

Air More Uptempo Elite

This shoe seems to have garnered the most attention out of the collection and honestly it was the easiest. Not to say that arrogantly but the nature of the original lent to this one being a simple update. I knew I had to write the word “Air” on the side of it and I knew I didn’t want to switch the font type up because it wouldn’t flow as well with the upper so I focused on how I could make the “Air” more functional. That lead to me developing what I would assume to be the biggest pieces of carbon fiber ever used on a basketball shoe.

By making the entire “Air” script out of carbon fiber I knew I had to find a way to lighten up the rest of the upper and make it more flexible. So I chose to make the upper out of Hyperfuse with key areas of mesh to allow for better flex. I really wanted the shoe to have more contour to it than the original, which I felt was quite bulbous. So I focused on bringing the silhouette closer to the foot and making it visually less heavy by having a minimal amount of overlays.

While the word “Air” was the most demanding visual element of the original, I wanted to take the other focal point of the shoe, the full length Air Max and update it to Zoom Air. The other element I wanted to focus on was the color blocking. My favorite colorway of the original was the Olympic colorway. The all white with blue highlights was very bold and I wanted to play off of that but instead of blue I went with gold.

Air Penny 1 Elite

This shoe was by far my most challenging to design. Even thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, I could not figure out how to do it. I wanted to update the Max Air heel to Zoom Air, remove the overlays to reveal the inner bootie, add Dynamic Flywire to support the foot, replace the EVA midfoot wing with carbon fiber and keep a similar color blocking of the original. But for the life of me I could not get the proportion right on this shoe.

I seriously must have revised the overall look on this shoe seven or eight times before arriving at this final version. What made this so challenging is that the original was so round and bulbous that it was hard to slim down and make it more modern. The lines wouldn’t flow well together or the shape of the modernized upper wouldn’t feel like the original. It was a tough battle but I think I accomplished what I was looking for.

One of my favorite details of the shoe is the oversized carbon fiber weave. This shoe was the second shoe I had created so by using the large weave here I chose to carry it out through the rest of the line on the white-based shoes.

Air Jordan XI Elite

This shoe was the most intimidating shoe to update. I hold this shoe, like many other sneakerheads, in very high regard. Simply put it’s the fucking XI. There is nothing else like it and I didn’t want to screw it up. But I must say I didn’t hesitate for a second to put this shoe on my list to get the Elite treatment. The challenge was very enticing to me.

One of my favorite sketches of all time is one of the original ideas that Tinker (Hatfield) had for the XI. It was a black upper with white patent leather and the upper extended higher then the final version of the XI and was lace less. Tinker’s vision was to create a sock that was molded and held your foot into place. My number one goal was to make that a reality.

It didn’t take a lot of sketching to accomplish that goal. The design already lended itself to be a graphic that would look good lace less, so all I had to do was finesse it and work out the details. The way I envisioned the sock being executed was by weaving the Codura Nylon, what the original shoe was made from, with Kevlar. Giving the shoe a high amount of flexibility but stilling having rigidity to support the foot. To aid in support I created a contoured heel counter out of carbon fiber that would provide the athlete with a secure Achilles and ankle.

Overall I was incredibly happy with this design. I think I did it justice as it still felt like an XI but took the idea of what it could be further.

Last Friday my first post with the ComplexSneakers went live. It is to serve as an introduction to what is going to be a weekly series of mine on the amazing site. For my first post me and my good friend and long time Complex contributor, Brandon Edler, put together a list of classic Nike basketball footwear to give the Elite treatment.

This project was insane as I seriously did what would normally be about a months work in seven days. It pushed me both mentally and physically as I did not receive much sleep over those days but it was worth it. Not only from achieving what I feel was good design but also proving to myself that I can push out quality work in that amount of time. But honestly the biggest reward was seeing the sneaker world’s reaction. To say that it went well would be an understatement because it was a tremendous out poor of positive reaction. It was awesome and quite surreal. Thank you for all the love!

The other challenge of the project was picking the iconic element of each shoe that would remain. Almost all of the shoes I chose I believe to be an iconic design and is very heralded in the sneaker community. If I didn’t embrace them properly I knew I would be killed at a very public level. So what I had to focus on was what to keep and what to evolve. It provided a great challenge for me, as I didn’t take what those shoes meant to sneakerheads, but also myself, lightly.

On top of that I am a designer at heart and one thing that I love to do as a designer, is figure out exactly how to make the shoes a reality. I knew because I was on such a time limit that wouldn’t be possible, so I had to balance between creating fiction and function. So not to say that function was out the window, because it wasn’t, but I did have to focus on capturing a vision of what the shoe could become. So basically these renderings serve as inspiration points for where I felt the designs could go.

I thought I would take the time to not only show the sketches that went into the final renderings but also break down the overall goals of each sneaker. Check out the first five below and come back tomorrow for the final five! And if you haven’t seen the full article on Complex, you should probably go do that as well.

Nike Air Pippen 2 Elite

The Pippen 2 is one of my all time favorite shoes. It was the first real signature shoe I ever had as a youth and it was the first shoe that I remember being attracted to because of how clean and simple it was. To me that notion is not an easy task. To keep a design pure takes a lot of focus and intent because you have to make your lines very dynamic and awe striking. That was the challenge for this shoe, maintaining the dynamic simplicity the original possessed.

I wanted to balance the strong graphic that was already created in the original but update it in a way that made since. The natural notion for me was to make the inner-bootie construction of the original the focal performance element of the Elite version. By choosing to go this route I decided that it would be wise to visually highlight it and I felt the most dynamic way to do this was to make the shoe a low top. Not only did that provide a loss in weight but I also think it helped update the visual proportion of the shoe to be competitive in the current basketball landscape.

To help aide that support I made a full carbon fiber shank plate and also a carbon fiber heel clip. Those two elements interact with the TPU support rand from the original shoe to provide a firm but contoured structure around the foot. I also chose to break up the one piece rubber sole unit the original featured and make it more podular.

Out of all of the shoes I created for this feature, this one is probably my favorite. Or possibly the Air Jordan XIX but more on that later…

Nike Shox BB4 Elite

I chose to update the Shox BB4 because it had such a statement when it originally released. At the time, it was the next wave of visual technology and it really captivated me. I have always wanted to have a chance to update what the Shox Pillar could look like and that is exactly what I focused on with this shoe. I wasn’t overly concerned with the upper as I knew I was going to keep it clean so it highlighted the Shox platform, just like the original.

I started out by sketching a variety of shapes and forms for what the column could evolve to but it really didn’t take me anywhere. Then I started looking at modern furniture and saw a chair that was really pushing what dimension could be within a form and visually it reminded me of compression. So I sketched it out and kept reworking it to proportionally work with the heel of the foot.

The one thing that I never liked about the original Shox was how little give it gave you. I felt because it didn’t compress very much it almost made it dangerous. So as I was updating it I focused on using two densities of foam, one that is firm, Phylon; and the other that is supple, Lunar. The idea is that the Lunar would be directly under your foot and therefore providing instant cushioning while the Phylon absorbs and sends energy back into your step to propel you forward.

From a design standpoint the upper of this shoe was the most rushed as it was the last one created. The platform I had already created for the Shox Stunner (which I will breakdown tomorrow) so it was carryover so to speak. I think both the Shox platform and upper can use some refinement but I think they capture what the vision could be.

Air Jordan XIX Elite

This shoe to me was the one that I don’t think many were expecting to be updated. The XIX doesn’t get a terrible amount of love, not only from the sneaker community but also from myself. There was elements of that shoe that I thought were spectacular but overall the execution was lacking and I always wanted to the chance to use the TechFlex material that was in the shroud in a way that actually makes it function.

While I know it would be a challenge to manufacture in real life, the overall goal was to make a FlyKnit upper that is knitted with the plastic TechFlex material. What I loved about the TechFlex in the shroud is how it compressed when it was bent and because it was woven, certain areas would lock together to provide support. In my Elite version the idea is that by having the TechFlex woven in with FlyKnit that it would lock you in, kind of like a Chinese Finger Trap, as you move. You wouldn’t have to have overlaying materials; essentially you would have a sock for an upper. I think it could be pretty amazing.

I also experimented with color a little more on this one, as I wanted it to be woven from the colors that reflect in the NBA Championship trophy. It is an abstract inspiration but I thought it would be cool to see gold, black, white and red all woven together to visually create the rich saturated colors that are found in the trophy.

Nike Air Max2 CB Elite

This was the first shoe on the list that I never owned. I have always respected the shoe and thought it was a great design but from a personal standpoint I thought it was bulky and thick. I have always been into more agile and lightweight footwear but I respected the reason it wasn’t that way. It has to support a very large athlete. So I focused on maintaining the structure and presence it already has but tried to make it less bulky.

Instead of having lines that were heavy and thick and overlayed each other I focused on creating lines that were zonal and dynamic. Each line leads to an area or zone of function, either to aid in support or to allow flex or airflow. The biggest visual update the shoe received was the Dynamic Flywire. I felt like this was a natural choice, as it would alleviate the thick straps that the original had but still would maintain the intended purpose of those straps.

Nike HyperFlight Elite

There were three shoes that gave me some serious challenges and this is one of them. I had a very hard time figuring out how to visually update this shoe and still make it impactful. I didn’t realize it until I started working on this project but the original HyperFlight was way ahead of its time. A minimal pieced synthetic upper that is supper clean with a large TPU support and features a dramatic collar line, that is pretty much what every shoe is today. This shoe is like the grandfather to the Hyperdunk line, the Kobe line, the Hyperfuse line and the KD line. So I really had to work hard to figure out where this shoe could go.

I started out sketching a variety of things of what this shoe could become. I started out focusing on an engineered mesh upper with a weld that would allow the sole unit to adhere to it. The idea would be that this would allow for it stay double lasted like the original and have a drop-in midsole set up similar to the Kobe line. But it just didn’t feel right. What I kept coming back to is the notion that the modern version of this shoe would be a lot like the iconic Nike Running LunaRacer. It would be transparent mesh that would have an internal support frame and instead of having Flywire like the LunaRacer, it would have a carbon fiber version of the original HyperFlight’s midfoot support piece. So I kept pushing to achieve that graphic.

Overall I think I accomplished the goal of making it a modern LunaRacer but I am still not overly in love the collar line. I don’t think it is dynamic enough but that is a tough collar to update, as the original was so unique. I do think that an all gold upper that has transparency to it would live up to the originals glossy upper though.

So it’s been a minute since I did a sketchbook drop, more like months, but I am back with one!

With tomorrow being Marathon Monday, I couldn’t help but start sketching a new running shoe. One thing that has been on my mind as of late is why have we not seen a Nike Free 1.0? Every year we get a new 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and sometimes a 7.0 but yet nothing below 3.0? I don’t understand it as it seems like it would be one of the most important models as it establishes what the Free line is based off of. For those of you unaware, Nike has a scale for how the free line works. It ranges from 0-10. 0 represents the barefoot and 10 is the common shoe. So 1.0 would be the most minimal shoe without being barefoot.

With that in mind, I started sketching.

In the beginning I was focusing on making a lower midsole but I felt that was too typical so I kept pushing it. While it is not completely finessed and I am refining it for the final design and rendering, the concept behind the shoe is to direct inject a blend of Phylon and rubber nodes on to a fabric strobel board that is stitched directly the upper. The idea is that the fabric will expand with your foot as it splays and flexes, and so to will the direct injected nodes, therefore the midsole reacts with your foot. So instead of being a solid plane that is between your foot and the ground, the nodes become extensions of your foot and allow your feet to still have complete control of your stride.

For the upper I am developing a lycra skin that features silicone screenprints on the back side of it that have texture to them, making them tactile. As your foot moves inside the shoe, the friction of the movement will catch on to the silicone and lock the upper in place becoming a second skin that adapts to you.

As I finesse the design, I am really working on the pattern of the silicone as I want that to be the visual focal point of the shoe.

Make sure you come back to see the final version of my Free 1.0.

In this weeks episode #SDMR, myself, Jacques, Clyde, and special guest Juan Martinez, Editor-At-Large for KicksOnFire and head honcho for the Examiner.com Kicks channel, take a look at the latest golf shoes the big brands have to offer and why they seem so plain. We also talk a bit about some of the advancements we’d like to see on the golf shoe scene, including an idea for Jeremy Scott.

Click the link to hear our thoughts on the subject!

It seems like everyday I am seeing a new colorway of the Roshe Run, actually let me correct that, a slew of new colorways. And rightfully so because it is a great shoe but I have to sit back and decide who is making all of these decisions for the colorways. Is it the design team? Partly, because they are putting together the color combinations that make all of us covet the shoes. But I believe the real answer is the Marketing group.

See marketing goes hand and hand with design. While they are two separate factions, if done properly they are working beside each other and not against each other. Design is there to keep things fresh and create the future. Marketing is there to know what the accounts want and place the product in their stores. Those are both simple definitions, as both entities do way more but it’s the cleanest definition I could come up with. If you take a good business course one of the first things you are going to learn is that marketing should never lead a company that is built on innovation. Reason being is that marketing knows dollar signs and therefore will keep running the play that is most successful, time after time, and at times are unwilling to try something new. Eventually they will ask for something fresh but that’s only once the consumer starts demanding by not spending their money on what is being marketed.

So how does this all relate to the Roshe Run? Well quite simple, it is clear to me that marketing has completely taken over this shoe and is going to run every colorway possible and material hybrid they can think of until it is no longer relevant.

If you think of what the Roshe stood for it was a simple and clean but bold take on what an athletic shoe could be. Priced at $70 it was an amazing value for something that looked so sophisticated. The whole goal of the shoe was to create a pattern that only had what was necessary. Because the shoe wasn’t a part of the Running group and was placed in Nike SportsWear, the team was able to take the shoe down to the simplest form possible because it didn’t have to meet Nike’s high performance demands for running shoes. It’s really quite a feat to get something this modest into the marketplace, let alone have it be such a successful product.

The shoe seemed to be created to be a highlight of material and color. You can literally pick whatever material you want: mesh, suede, leather, nylon, ripstop, nubuck, lycra and so on; and the shoe is going to look great. The shoe features ten pieces that can have a color change: the saddle, the vamp and toebox piece, two pieces of webbing, the liner, the swoosh, laces, eyelet hardware, the midsole and the insole. The minimal amount of color options combined with a sophisticated eye creates a plethora of silhouette options.

Since this simple formula has created a mass hysteria amongst sneakerheads, the shoe has been played out in every option possible. It is safe to say that we have seen well over 25 colorways and that number is only climbing. Not too many shoes climb above eight colorways let alone 25+, so that number is quite staggering. So what does this mean to marketing?

They see the success of all these colorways and decide to back to the design team and say, “we need more colorways, what do you have for us?” The design team has an idea for Roshe’s with higher quality materials but also gives them a new silhouette at the same time, they now have created a mid! It sells well too, marketing wants more! So design starts doing crazy colorways. They make a pack of all black shoes except the medial features a colored saddle, and can you believe it? It sells like crazy too! So now marketing is like we can’t screw up, start making colorways with the swoosh on the forefoot that way our branding is more prominent. So the design team abides, but they add some texture to the swoosh and add materials that were similar to the biggest sneakerhead hit last year, the Yeezy 2. Now you can have a shoe that is just as dope as the Yeezy 2 but it’s nearly a third of the price! Better buy those up; you won’t have that chance again! Then design starts to run out of ideas so marketing starts coming up with ideas.

How can we get more revenue out of this shoe? Well the simple answer is to up the price on them but we need to add something to it so the consumer understands why we upped the price. You know what we should add? Dynamic Flywire! Put it on that saddle piece and replace the webbings with it too. What else could we do to the shoe? They look around at all of the blogs and determine that camouflage has been really hitting the streets hard the past few seasons. So they ask design to create a unique camo pattern for them, design does and does a great job at it. Those ideas are good but you know how we could make a lot of revenue? PUT THAT THING UP ON NIKEID! We can call it “Simplicity at it’s finest”; the consumer can then “Create the shoe you love with exclusive materials and colors”. We will have orders for months if we go that route!

Now I could go on for paragraphs talking in my marketing voice but my point is that the Roshe Run has been completely overtaken by the marketing team. I am not saying it is bad yet, although I do personally believe that the Dynamic Flywire version completely destroys the intention of the shoe. But this could end up killing a classic silhouette simply by oversaturating it. It is arguable that is already oversaturated but they have yet to have a version that is a complete flop.

I can’t think of a shoe in the past decade that has taken off like this. Maybe the Free Run series, in particularly the 2, but we didn’t get a dramatic amount of colorways until it took off on NikeID. Which to me is the equivalent of an old TV Show doing amazing on Netflix and getting a new season because of the newfound popularity. But Nike isn’t allowing for the Roshe to run out of popularity they are doing their best to keep it popular, it will be interesting to see if it lasts.

This may come as a surprise to a few of you because I rarely post about it on here but my sport of choice besides running is actually golf. By no means am I a good golfer; in fact I didn’t start playing until two years ago. However, I have progressed quite rapidly and I am improving daily.

Recently I upgraded my clubs to the Nike VR_S Covert Irons and with that I also went ahead replaced my previous driver. I am now using the Nike VR_S Covert Tour Driver. You could say I am completely covereted, Ha!  

Because I live in the beautiful Midwest I have been limited to using my clubs at an indoor range. I have hit the driver on 10 different occasions now, each time was 100+ balls, so I felt that gives me enough experience with the driver to give my full review. Especially since spring is now in full bloom and I was able to take the last test outdoors.

My review won’t play out exactly like a review you would find on Golf Digest or any other resource. My main focus will be on the Form, Function & Philosophy behind the club. Check out my full breakdown below!

Form

From an overall form and shape standpoint there is nothing that truly distinguishes this club from any other. That is strictly comparing shape, not color or material. Because where this club actually shines from a form standpoint, is its use of color & material.

The shaft is crafted from Mitsubishi’s Rayon Kuro Kage Silver 60 Shaft. Which is split into two colors: black and red. What I find to be most unique about the color break is how it visually leads your eye into lining the club up with the ball. If you think of your shaft as being a projected line that aligns you with the ball, as you stare down the shaft the red emerges from the grip and then disappears into the black causing you to focus on the head of the club. Because the head of the club is red as well, it forces your eyes to balance the three-color break up, red-black-red. With black being the center color your eye focuses on that and I found it helped me to keep my club head aligned. I can’t say that this was an intentional design element but I can’t help but think it was.

The other graphic element that ties into that is the placement of the swoosh and the Covert font on the top of the head. Covert is aligned perfect to the center of the head, therefore helping you line up with your teed up ball. The swoosh then follows the curvature of the head and gives the club a lot of visual movement. It is a little psychological, but since all of golf is anyway, I feel like the swoosh placement helps me to visualize the head swinging through my ball and contacting for the perfect drive. I am sure that is over thought a little and the designer probably just placed the swoosh there because it was the most aesthetically appeasing solution, but it helps me.

As I mentioned above the head of the club is painted in red. When I first received the club I couldn’t help but be enamored with the level of detail and attention that went into the head design. It is quite beautiful. The head features a cavity on the bottom side that is very aggressive in its styling. The faceting flows with the direction of the club and features a variety of texture and gloss finishes. The top of the head is a very glossy and deep red. Similar to car paint as the color has a lot of movement and picks up a lot of reflection. I would say the red falls on the dark, sophisticated side and less on the bright, bold and youthful side.

The one critique I have of the club from a Form standpoint is the finishes or quality of the finishes used on the club. Before I get too far into this please note that I could say the exact same thing that I am about to say about any club on the market, it is not just this club. With that being said, maybe it is the shoe head in me but I hate that I have yet to use this club on a course and it looks like I have used it for a full year. In the same way that I keep almost all of my 200+ pairs of shoes as clean as possible, I want my clubs to look the same. I know that clubs are meant to be used and eventually are going to show wear but I think that for only having used this 10 times it shows too much wear.

While I am not an expert in golf club design, I have to believe that the materials and processes being used are not far off from what I use on daily basis. So I think I have a pretty good idea of how it is being manufactured. I am guessing the base of the material is a highly polished aluminum and it is then masked and painted to give dimension and detail, nothing revolutionary and honestly is a good solution. Where I am frustrated is that the head of my club has dented, minimally, on the outside of it and the paint has chipped quite badly. The club is $400 and honestly it disappoints me that something at this price point has had this happen so quickly. What I would love to see happen on the next addition to the Covert series is have a little more money allocated to adding a thicker paint with a heavier clear coat because this will help prevent my issues.

Function

Simply put I have little to no complaints in how this golf club functions. I am not lying or trying to oversell the product here, but I have honestly seen my drive increase by 30 yards. For me, a relatively new comer to the golf game, I am astonished and thrilled by this for obvious reasons as it improves my game dramatically.

The first thing I noticed about the club as I used it was how light it was. It honestly made me a little nervous, as it didn’t really feel any weight from the grip to the shaft because all of the weight is where you want it, in the head. As you swing through you can feel the weight transition from your shoulders to your forearms and then through the shaft to the head and ultimately down through the ball. It has a very firm and solid contact too it, which I prefer. I don’t look for a lot of flex in my clubs, primarily because I am not Tiger Woods and my skill level doesn’t require it.

The club allows for adjustment from 8.5 -12.5 degree in loft, which is an amazing feature. That allows for anyone to solve their ailments of their game but I must admit I am not taking advantage of this. Not because I don’t see its value but because I don’t believe in crutches and I am trying to play the game with my skill. And honestly I haven’t really needed to as for the most part I hit the ball straight with this club, I occasionally have a slight hook to it but I am working on that. Generally when I hook, it is caused by me pulling my head and not the club. So I choose to work on this and not have my club fix it for me.

Philosophy

My thoughts on the club are overly positive. I think it is a great addition to my bag and will help me play to the best of my capabilities. In fact I think the club is too good for me, as I know somebody who has been playing the game for years could take full advantage of everything it has to offer and have a killer game.

The only elements I would like to see improved are the quality of finishes but that is more me wanting to keep everything looking pristine. Which could be a bit of my OCD coming through because as I talk to my best friend who really introduced me to golf, he thinks I am crazy. He actually thinks that those elements give the clubs character and show that they aren’t just a trophy, they are being used to their fullest capability. But you are also reading a review from a guy who cleans his shoes the moment he takes them off, so take that for what its worth.

Last fall Dwayne Wade made an unprecedented move as he left the Jordan Brand to join what many had considered to be an unproven brand in the US basketball market, Li-Ning. Dwayne saw the move as an opportunity to push himself as a brand and become the focal point of an Asian company that had yet to fully break out in the US marketplace. Vice versa it also provides Dwayne an opportunity to grow his stock in the rising Asian market.

What had to be record timing to get a shoe on the court, Li-Ning provided Dwayne with a shoe for the start of the NBA season, the Way of Wade. I was lucky enough to get my hand on a pair of this limited shoe, to give my full thoughts on the Form, Function & Philosophy of the shoe. Check out Form and Function below.

Shape

The shape of the shoe is what I would consider to be fairly classic, meaning that it doesn’t push the boundaries on where footwear proportion is going. But in the current marketplace of signature shoes, I would actually consider it to be fairly bold. When you consider the Lebron X, the Kobe 8, the KD V, the DRose 3 and so on, this shoe is dramatically different in shape around the collar and in height. It has a natural flow from the Achilles to around the ankle. Where it does fall in line with the current style is the tall tongue.

The tongue does fit nicely around your foot. I was afraid that the molding, which visually reminds me of a luxury brand sneaker, wouldn’t be flexible and be uncomfortable but since the patent leather piece is sown to a very nice open mesh it flexes quite well and allows for the foot to move naturally. The tongue is fully gusseted making it a half bootie which provides excellent support.

The toebox is what I would consider to be a little dated and can use some finessing. I prefer to have no tip around the toe of the shoe. I think a tip makes, not just this shoe but all shoes, a little stiff and also dates the aesthetic. Now it is important to note this feature does nothing to limit performance, it is solely my opinion and it will definitely differ for each person. I must say the toebox is executed very well. I feel little to know irritation and it is not stiff, it is quite supple.

Material & Processes

The best aspect of this shoe is that it is full-grain leather. That feature sets the whole shoe apart from every other signature shoe on the market. In a time when fused and welded uppers dominate the court, Li-Ning made a conscious effort to go the opposite. When everyone else is zigging they zagged and it paid off.

I am all for progression in the footwear market, it is what I live for. I am not the type of person that thinks a shoe has to be leather for it to be of value, I just think it has to be executed well for the price-point. However, I must admit it was refreshing have a full leather shoe on my foot. It has been awhile since I have and to have a shoe that is supple and forms around you will never get old.

The most dynamic feature of the shoe is the sown on TPU eyerow that features the “WADE” lace-lock on the forefoot. This feature was something that I was relatively concerned about before trying because sometimes when you combine a hard material, the TPU, with a soft material, the leather, the outcome is not always comfortable. As it can be stiff and rigid. Some materials just don’t always work well together; this is not the case in this instance. It sits on top of your foot quite well and moves with you. It also integrates nicely with the tongue as the “WADE” lace-lock connects directly to the inner bootie.

The midsole is composed of CMEVA with co-molded Li-Ning Bounse in the forefoot and heel. They are internally positioned and not noticeable to the viewer. They provide a great feel. I would best describe the ride as firm and responsive, which is exactly what I look for. I will say I think the midsole heights can be shaved down a little. I do feel high off the ground. I would say the forefoot is about 24mm off the ground the heel is about 30mm. Which is consistent with the Lebron X and KD V. However, I would like to see this be 20mm and 24mm respectively.

The midsole also features a dual-layer molded carbon fiber plate in the midfoot. It provides excellent midfoot support that is resilient and lightweight. It interacts with transparent rubber and solid rubber that features a DW (Dwayne Wade) “bowtie” herringbone. It’s a functional feature that provides great traction but is also great graphic design.

Fit & Feel

I have already mentioned it but the shoe feels phenomenal. The leather feels great and the collar lining is plush with no irritation. I do think it runs a little narrow, I would suggest going a half size up. But like any leather shoe it will start out stiff but as you break it in it will naturally form around your foot, so give this shoe time to become a part of you.

One thing that really aids in the fit and feel of this shoe is how well it is constructed. As I mentioned earlier that this shoe has no welding and features a minimal amount of synthetic material compared to its competition. One reason it’s competition went to all welded and fused synthetics is to rid the athlete of any irritation from where material is joined together and bring the shoe closer to the foot. While the Li-Ning WOW does not feel as close to the foot as some of its competitors, it does do an amazing job of having no irritation points from where it is sown together. Proving that there is still a place for classic materials and construction on the basketball court.

Graphic

The graphic overall is pretty standard. The colorway is the classic black/red/white that we have come to expect and there is nothing wrong with that. What I like about the colorway is that it uses its materials to celebrate it. I have always believed that good design is honest and by having the full-grain leather feature a grain that is prominent helps distinguish to the user that they are buying a genuine product. There is something really nice about that.

My favorite overall detail is the laces. While I am sure it was a happy coincidence that the design team found a lace with a herringbone pattern that looked like interlocking “W’s”, it adds a nice detail that subtly ties back Wade. I am also a big fan of well executed logo design’s and the WADE script that is embossed in the TPU eyerow and screenprinted on the heel in white is a very nice touch. However I don’t think it will live on forever as the style will date itself but this provides the team an opportunity to update their graphic yearly similar to what the Air Jordan line has done.

If there was one graphic element I would improve on it would be the “speckle” paint effect. Which I should note that I don’t think it is actually painted. I think it is a hydrographic, which essentially is a large decal that is adhered to the midsole. I don’t have a problem with the effect I just don’t like the gloss level it gives off and I don’t like that it feels flat. I would rather have it have some depth and texture to it. This is a very minor detail and may be something only I will notice, but that’s what I do.

Conclusion

Li-Ning didn’t need to come in and create a shoe that was so visually dramatic that everyone noticed them. In all honesty, that’s an easy task to do. All you have to do is be willing to create an avant garde shoe that looks like nothing before it. What is hard to do is create a shoe that looks good, is consistent and performs well. They did just that.

I must say I have never worn a shoe outside of the swoosh or jumpman that has garnered so much attention. Every time I post up something about this shoe on various media sites I am constantly asked about the shoe and I have been stopped multiple times in public as well. This shoe is the perfect entry for Li-Ning. It allows them to grow their basketball market and the Wade brand in whatever direction they want. The only standard they have to live up to is the construction quality and material.