words_Nick DePaula
[As published in Sole Collector's Issue 29, available HERE]

February. 2007.
At the time that Mark Smith’s phone rang on a random February day nearly two and a half years ago, he was already knee-deep in an endless array of projects for Nike’s Innovation Kitchen. Whether that included helping to shape and craft the Air Jordan XX3, helping laser up a storm of one-of-one exclusives for friends of the brand as the Creative Director of Special Projects at the time, or helping redesign the all-new and relocated Kitchen, surely adding another high profile brief to his workload wasn’t at the top of his wish list. And yet, that’s exactly when he got the call from Nike’s current CEO that would spark one of the most anticipated limited edition sneakers upon its release some two years later, as he was asked to work with arguably one of the most recognizable names in the collective realms of streetwear, sneakers and music: Kanye West. “It was an interesting design challenge to try and put things together from a design standpoint,” says Smith. “It was based on a call from Mark Parker basically.”

Right from the outset, Smith knew the shoe would take on a high-profile aura, as not only would he and West be working together to create the first-ever signature shoe for a non-athlete in Nike’s history, but based off of West’s track record of influencing styles and trends, people across the world were guaranteed to take notice. After the phone call with Parker, an introductory meeting was set up between Smith and West, and right away the two lofted out their design goals and intentions. “We just kind of went into it saying that we wanted to do something that was unique, and his clear vision was that it should feel retro. I just listened, and he thought it should feel like it came from the ’80s,” Smith recalls. “Obviously, there was a McFly reference from the movie. The fact is, he came in and said, ‘I want something like this,’ and I said, ‘OK.’ So he wanted it to look like something from the movie and have this retro look from the ’80s and the past. The more things he put into it and the more we started to decide where the lines would be, we figured out how things were going to work together.”

Above: Kanye West and Mark Parker discuss concepts while on a Nike jet two years ago. Kanye pens his first few sketches.

After the initial meeting, Kanye and Mark Smith were able to hammer down a concept of exactly where the project could be headed. He brought in some of his favorite shoes at the time, and they also thumbed through details of past Air Jordans that Kanye liked, like the toe cap of the III, tongue height of the VI, molding of the V and silhouette of the II. The checklist read perhaps in disunion at first. Exaggerated collar. Organically flowing midsole. Versatile midfoot strap. And comfort – comfort was always a must. The design cues and elements of the shoe were aplenty, and yet the shoe still had a subtlety and cleanliness that made it appear futuristic relative to the era Kanye was after – the ’80s – and not a bizarre and unconventional mess according to today’s standards. Smith, along with Tiffany Beers, who goes by the simply awesome title of “Innovator” at Nike’s Innovation Kitchen, regrouped, processed their thoughts and developed a game plan to begin to have samples made that they could work from during their next meeting with West. Beers’ role during the process was simply to capture as much information as possible during meetings and jot down all of the thoughts shared amongst West and Smith, and then she would work with the Kitchen’s sample room or various factories to have samples executed. “When we first started the shoe, we thought it’d be a quick project, like a three-month project,” says Beers. “We’d do it, meet with him, make sure he likes it and be done. That’s not quite what it turned out to be…”

With the framework for the Nike and Kanye partnership set, and Smith and West beginning to meet more frequently, whether in Beaverton at the Nike campus or in a hotel room wherever West happened to be at the time, the Air Yeezy was beginning to take form.

Further sketches from Kanye West:

Below, Mark Smith and Tiffany Beers meet with Kanye at a hotel in May of 2008. Be sure to check back all week for more behind-the-scenes images and samples.