Nike Air Hoop Structure Design Process

words & images_Nick DePaula
Renderings courtesy Nike

For most people, the Air Structure was a pretty iconic runner stemming from the late 80’s and early 90’s Nike Air renaissance,  and it fell more along the lines of the Air Stab and Air Max Light than it did Air Max 1 and 95 to follow — a cult classic for quite some time. When it returned last year, the model (seen above in its original catalog listing) was not only well received by the core running fans who for years have called for a Retro, but surprisingly by the mass market as well, as we saw a whole slew of colorways to follow. Some welcomed, and as usual, others we could’ve done without.

On the heels of the Air Structure’s success, Nike’s Urban Sportswear group just dropped a reinterpretation of the shoe: the Hoop Structure. Styled up with similar overlays and panels, the prominent external heel counter and visible heel Air-Sole unit are still in place, with minor adjustments throughout. “It was a pretty easy design actually, I just wanted to move the lines and add a molded collar so that the shoe could appear to have been an original basketball shoe from that era,” says Marc Dolce, Urban Sportswear Design Director and designer of the Hoop Structure. Much like one of the most well known basketball shoes of 1991, worn by His Airness, the Hoop Structure also features a translucent outsole along the forefoot, with herringbone grooves added in for that trusty hardwood traction. “We’re not necessarily calling it a basketball shoe, but if you did want to play in it, it has all the components to perform,” Dolce says.

With the tongue pull tab and several other details being added in to the revamped and hoops-intended Structure, let’s take a walk through several of the shoe’s design stages…

An initial upper sample, mocked up on none other than the Flight 89 tooling. Notice Dolce’s noted line changes along the heel, where the external counter would later be affixed.

This 3D rendering showcases the shoe’s silhouette and tooling taking shape.

A Z-Corp 3D model of the Hoop Structure offers a chance for the team to take a much quicker look at how the shoe is progressing. The model takes just a few hours to be produced, as compared to sending a pattern tech pack off to Asia and waiting a week or two for a sample to arrive back.

Here we have the finished version of the Nike Air Hoop Structure, in its classic White/Aquamarine/Black/Medium Grey colorway, available now at urban accounts and boutiques with a retail price of $120.

Be sure to check back all week long for even more details and background on the Hoop Structure’s process.

Tags: air structure, hoop structure, marc dolce, marcus smith, nike, structure triax, urban sportswear

One Response to “Nike Air Hoop Structure Design Process”

1. Brian says:

   August 23, 2009 at 5:25 am

   very interesting, thanks Nick

   Reply