Earlier this month, Kanye West sent sneaker social media into a frenzy after posting Jordan Brand’s Jumpman logo on Instagram. The post came after a comment from Michael Jordan’s son Marcus urging DJ Khaled to broker a meeting between Ye and MJ. Still, could a Kanye x Jordan collab really happen? “Never say never,” says brand chairman Larry Miller.
Miller appeared today on an episode of NPR’s The Limits with Jay Williams podcast as part of a press run for his recently released Jump: My Secret Journey From the Streets to the Boardroom book. When asked about West’s recent posts and a potential collab, Miller credited Kanye’s work with Adidas and made a point not to rule out a possible collaboration between the two sportswear giants.
“I think he’s an incredibly creative and talented person,” Miller said. “I wish he had stayed with Nike, that would have been great. I can’t say that will not happen, I don’t know that it will, but I can’t say that it won’t happen, that we would at some point be able to do something with Kanye. I can’t say that it’s absolutely not going to happen.”
When asked about the challenges a brand may face working with a creative like West, Miller emphasized the concept of needing someone to manage ideas.
“You have to be willing an open to taking his input, but then you also have to be able to, from the other side, manage the expectations and limits that are there,” he said. “Because someone like Kanye may have this incredible idea that’s fantastic. Taking that idea and making it a reality is something that can be much more of a challenge. I think it’s really figuring out how to marry that creativity with the reality of what can and can’t be done…I haven’t worked directly with Kanye on product at that level so I can’t speak on how he operates and how that works. But to me, someone that has the creativity that he has, there’s got to be a balancing side to that to say, ‘Yeah that’s great, but when we look at these ideas, here are the ones we can actually make work.’”
Miller also touched on West’s 2020 comments about Jordans in the Black community. “Jordans need to be part of reparations,” West said on an episode of Nick Cannon’s Cannon Class. “You can’t tell a Black man not to wear Jordans. It should be in any deal.”
“I was glad that Kanye made that comment,” Miller said. “I think that there is a connection in the Black community with the Jordan Brand, and I think the majority of it is based on Michael Jordan. At the time, he was the coolest guy out there. All the guys wanted to be him, and all the girls wanted to be with him.”
Check back for updates on any potential Kanye x Jordan developments.
