Editor’s Note: In this new episode of From Concept to Concrete, new Features Writer Evange Rodriguez (@Kickstorian_) gives us a peek into his thought process and his love creating one-of-a-kind colorways of his favorite kicks through the NIKEiD program.
I’ve always been fascinated with the design process, storylines and creativity it takes to make the sneakers we all love. The collaboration with professional athletes incorporating performance style and significant events from the athlete’s lives symbolized through bold and powerful colorways are some of my favorite factors. I started ‘From Concept to Concrete’ to explore your creativity. As a child I would daydream and doodle my sneakers in different colorways always wishing they would release. Thankfully, we now live in a time where NIKEiD makes those aspirations possible and if NIKEiD can’t offer it, there are amazing artists out there that can bring life to nearly anything you can imagine. I personally have a small NIKEiD collection but I wanted to share my most significant pair – my very first pair, a NIKEiD LeBron 12.
This colorway consist of a navy/royal blue upper, black posites, a black midsole, a translucent outsole, red liner, red flywire, gold laces and gold Nike checks. I was inspired by my favorite LeBron model, the Nike LeBron 4. Now I didn’t have a specific colorway in mind; I was actually inspired by the sneaker in general. The LeBron 12 instantly reminded me of the 4s, as if they were rehashed with today’s technology. The outsole had been broken into sections for the first time in LeBron’s signature line since the 4s, the one piece booty-like upper and a posite unit/midsole combination that flows horizontally from the heel to the toe in a type of wave shape instantly took me back to 2006.
I thought about the incredible colorways that released for the LeBron 4. Nothing over the top with 100 of the brightest colors in one pair. It was generally one solid color for the upper unit, one solid color for the bottom unit and a small accent color throughout. Simple and powerful, the perfect example of when less is more and it was the perfect representation of my style.
I knew I wanted gold accents throughout the sneaker as a representation of a champion and royalty of a ‘King’. I knew I wanted a translucent outsole. I also knew I wanted the posite and midsole the same color to flow as one from heel to toe. I ultimately went with a blue upper and black posite/midsole because it reminded me of the early 2000s during the alpha project when navy blue and gold were apart of primary colorways. The red accents were a representation of LeBron also and tied in the whole colorway. I created these the first day the LeBron 12 hit NIKEiD. It’s become one of those simple yet powerful colorways. I’m humbled that others have created this same color scheme and have thanked me for the inspiration.
Artist:
Check out some of my other creations below. I invite you all to embrace your creativity! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and make sure we see your creations by using the hashtag #Kicksonfire!
