Tomorrow, Jordan Brand drops (as a general release) the Sixty Plus—a sneaker that takes inspiration from the five shoes MJ wore in games where he scored more than 60 points. The sneaker that looks like the Jordan V to the un-trained eye, takes cues from the Jordan I, II, V, and VII and combines them into one solid hybrid. For our August/September issue we talked to Justin Taylor, the designer of the sneaker, as well as Josiah Lake who is the Director of Jordan Footwear to get a more in-depth understanding of the sneaker. To read their thoughts on the shoe, and to also see the breakdown of the models included in the sneaker, read on below... $150, www.jumpman23.com
Justin Taylor, Designer of the Sixty Plus:
"The shoe is a combination of the I, II, V, and VII: the four shoes MJ wore in the five 60+ games. You'll immediately recognize the heel-piece and the eyelet from the II, but there are other pieces that are more interpretive. You can see that we took the wings logo to the tongue in a new way and took the collar of the VII and reinterpreted it."
Josiah Lake, Director of Jordan Footwear:
"The remixes—this is my fourth—are harder than people think; it's not just a cut-and-paste mash-up. All Jordans are designed as performance shoes, even this one, so we have to keep that in mind. The [Jordan] brand is strongest when the shoes that we're making are a combination of lifestyle and performance, so these are wear-tested before they go to market. The reality is that shoes like this are coveted, collectible sneakers, so the last thing the kids are thinking about doing is going and scuffing them up. But they have the ability to do that if the time comes."
Taylor: "In the initial design process, I always work with hand sketches. [For the Sixty Plus] I started with the shoes on my desk and drew pencil sketches. These shoes don't necessarily work together naturally; there's a good amount of artistic interpretation on our part. But when we first tested them, they tested well, so finishing the design was a finessing of the aesthetics to elevate the storytelling behind the project. The first samples didn't have the heel piece from the II. That came later, more of a design element over a performance element."
Lake: "The goal of the remix sneakers [Dub Zero, Spiz'ike, Six Rings] is a vehicle to tell the story of the Jordan legacy, a 'history lesson in a sneaker.' You might be intrigued by the familiar elements of the shoe, but the second part is the opportunity to introduce MJ's legacy to people who weren't old enough to watch it when it originally happened. We're leading into MJ's Hall of Fame induction, so we want to celebrate the aspects that made him exciting to watch—a big part of that was his ability to score."
THE BREAKDOWN OF THE JORDAN MODELS FEATURED IN THE SIXTY PLUS
JORDAN'S 5 SIXTY PLUS GAMES:
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