The next time you drain your bank account in anticipation of the latest retro Jordan release, take a minute to thank Tinker Hatfield for your plight. As the designer of iconic kicks like the Jordan III and the Air Max, Hatfield’s had a bigger imprint on footwear than anyone since the inventor of shoelaces. With his latest creation, the Jordan XX3 (see Performance for a peek), the 55-year-old Oregonian returns to his highly successful partnership with MJ after a three-year hiatus. He recently sat with Complex to discuss the product that’s had us fiending for so many years.

Your background is in architecture. How did you come around to designing sneakers?
Tinker Hatfield: I was the corporate architect [at Nike] for four and a half years before I was designing sneakers. When I came here, I thought, “Well, I’ll design all kinds of cool stores and showrooms and buildings.” But it became crystal clear to me that the real action in this company, if you’re a creative person, is designing product. So I was asked to enter a design contest, and I did pretty well. Shortly after that, I was designing shoes.

How does your architectural background separate you from other sneaker designers?
Tinker Hatfield: I don’t know if it separates me, but I feel strongly that it’s been an advantage. When I came to Nike, I think I was already pre-organized to want to dig deeper and do a better job than a lot of people I was essentially competing with.

You’ve said that when you designed the Air Max 1 you wanted to push the envelope as far as you could without getting fired. What push-back did you get on that design?
Tinker Hatfield: Some people were concerned that when you exposed the airbag it made the shoe vulnerable. The bag could be punctured and there might be more returns in the store. They were looking for reasons not to do it, and the role of a designer is to convince those kinds of people that there is actually a reason to do it.

Which is?
Tinker Hatfield: My point was that you make this shoe that performs well, fits well, and has all the right components. But I felt like it was high time the shoe business became more of a “high style” kind of business, where you’re getting people emotionally involved in the product-making the shoes colorful, adding new features, giving people a reason to fall in love with the shoe.