Designer Jason Mayden Breaks Down The Jordan 2009

SPECIAL DETAILS

Complex: The whole shoe is kind of special, but I see that there are some specifically aesthetic hits, like the hologram and the logo here on the toe. Can you talk about that?

Jason Mayden: The hologram is again that luxury element for the Jordan brand. When you make an investment in this shoe, we want you to be excited about it, and for you to know that you are getting an authentic product. We've done holograms with Jordan before, and it's just about being authentic.

Jason Mayden: On the heel, there is this microscreen print that pays homage to MJ's career. See it? It says, “The best that ever was, the best that ever will be.” It's something that when you see it at first glance you don't really recognize what the screenprint says but when you get up close, you know it's the detail that identifies the quality of the shoe. The other element is the way that we chose to logo the Jordan 2009. If you look at the toe here, we created an ambigram logo.

Complex: Not sure what… Oh, OK, it's the same from both ways. That's awesome.

Jason Mayden: You can see it both ways. So regardless of how you look at it you see MJ, you see Jordan. And that's the same with with MJ's career. No matter how you look at it, there's a certain respect there because of his accomplishments on the court. There's no mistaking this product when you see it.

Complex: So why is this shoe called the Jordan 2009, not the Jordan 24?

Jason Mayden: Well, we wanted to pay homage to MJ. Just as they retired his jersey number, we wanted to do something, to capture the moment in time. We say 1-23 – that's MJ's, that's to honor his career, his legacy. Now, we are starting off in a new direction. We want to give the brand a fresh start and a fresh thought process about how to create for the basketball player of the future. Twenty-three is Michael's number. Now it's time to create a new strategy around how to innovate and push the brand toward the 21st century.

Complex: And who will be wearing the shoe on court?

Jason Mayden: We will have this shoe show up the same way that we have placed traditional Air Jordans before this. We're going to have All Star guys wearing it and all of our athletes who defy expectations on court.

Complex: This shoe, like the Jordan 23, is a Considered product. Can you talk about what makes it Considered and how designing with that as a process affects your design language? What does Considered mean for people that don't know?

Jason Mayden: Considered is a standard for manufacturing that both the Nike and Jordan brands use. It's a standard for material selection, and is basically a design ethos that says, “Create products that make less waste and create products that cut down on environment-harming chemicals.” Considered is also about pattern efficiency. If we can cut patterns that cut down on waste, use more of each piece of fabric, then we can cut down on our environmental impact and everyone wins.

Jason Mayden: As far as the design process, I didn't see the Considered principles as a problem. It actually made it more interesting because when you have parameters set up for you to design around it makes you think a lot more and gives the designer a healthy challenge. You can't just go in and just draw anything. It has to be specific to this mission and this goal for this shoe.

Complex: Are there specific things we can talk about on the shoe that make the shoe fit the Considered design parameters?

Jason Mayden: Yeah there are. Starting from the bottom, we didn't use paint on the chassis. We used a high polish on the mold, so by removing paint we cut down on harmful chemicals to the environment, and the TPU used is recyclable. The heel pieces are made from recycled grain rubber, and for the carbon fiber plate we used water-based glues to affix it. Same thing with the mid-sole to the upper: water-based glue. The leather is made at a green tannery so they don't use solvents in their process. The satin material is a recycled material. The laces are recycled. The lining packing is made from bamboo fibers, a sustainable material. Everything on this shoe is either recycled or made from a green vendor. We wanted to attack the issue of waste and the issues of chemicals that are harmful to the environment, but as you see, we were still able to make this shoe luxurious and still fit the Jordan aesthetic.

Complex: What's with the colorway for this shoe? How did you pick it, and what's the LE colorway?

Jason Mayden: Well for the general release we wanted to project a quiet confidence with the shoe. Again, it's that defensive aspect. You never hear Jordan screaming “Yo, I'mma steal the ball from you, I'mma shut you down.” That doesn't happen. It's that quiet intensity that MJ had on the court. We wanted the shoe to have that same presence with the general release. For the LE, that's the black/gold, which is a bit more intense, but it's still kind of like a quiet luxury.

The LE version comes out January 31st, and the General colorway comes out on February 14th, for the All-Star Game

BOX DESIGN

Jason Mayden: For the box, we had the box mimic the idea of the agigram that I mentioned earlier, from the toe cap?

Complex: Right.

Jason Mayden: Regardless of which way you flip it, it's the same shape. I used to work in a shoe store so I know how it is to pack these and unpack them. So the shape itself is designed like the angigram where regardless of which way you flip it, it's still the same exact shape. The designer I worked with, his name is Sean Butterly. He did an excellent job of bringing the details from the pleats and the cleanliness of fencing but at the same time having that deception factor we talked about where no matter how you look at the box it's still the same design from multiple angles.

Complex: Well, very cool. Great job.

Jason Mayden: I appreciate that. Thank you.

Complex: Are you doing the next one?

Jason Mayden: Haha. Wait and see. You'll have to wait and see.