A tale from this week's episode of Full Size Run proves that if you’re brave enough to sneak onto a private jet with Tinker Hatfield and Michael Jordan, they might give your designs a chance. In the episode, ex-Nike and Jordan designer Jason Mayden told the story of when another former Nike designer, Marc Dolce, did just that.
"He snuck his way onto a plane with MJ and Tinker," Mayden recalls, "presented the product—wasn’t in Jordan Brand—showed it, and said, 'I think this is a great insight.'"
Dolce was working in Nike Sportswear at the time, and Mayden says that the idea was eventually passed on to him and other then-Jordan designers D'Wayne Edwards and Justin Taylor.
Dolce left Nike in 2014 for Adidas, his highly publicized departure prompting a legal battle.
Mayden is currently the CEO of Super Heroic Inc., a business he co-founded that focuses on creating product and tech for elementary school-aged children.
