image courtesy of nike

over the weekend nike introduced the new air max lebron VII basketball shoes. designboom was on hand
for the unveiling featuring lebron james and the shoe’s designer jason petrie held in james’ hometown,
akron, ohio. the new shoe is the seventh in the lebron james signature line and the first nike basketball shoe
to feature a full-length airbag cushioning system on the sole. the shoe also features a flywire upper that uses
a high tensile-strength cable to provide stability.

for the shoe’s design, petrie took inspiration from lebron’s life and career. the designer shadowed the
basketball star for a day, drawing insights from lebron’s interests, including his love for luxury cars.
petrie described his attempt to blend his signature cartoon style with a very technical look for the lebron
VII. for all his shoes, petrie says his design process ‘isn’t set in stone, but I am always trying to find what
ken link calls the 'truth' in the shoe. usually I first look to identify the problem we need to solve and who
we are solving it for. once that is established my inspiration can come from anywhere, but it most often
comes from the game and the culture around it.’ the air max lebron VII was designed over an 18-month
period with lebron’s involvement throughout the process. the shoe will be available globally this october.

http://www.nikebasketball.com


© image designboom


© image designboom


© image designboom


© image designboom


image courtesy of nike


image courtesy of nike


image courtesy of nike


image courtesy of nike


© image designboom