THOMAS DURAND product designer
THOMAS DURAND product designer
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s first signature shoe. He is the first ever European Athlete to be graced with a signature shoe from Nike.I had the honor to be tasked with designing it.
It was an amazing encounter, a great partnership and a funny journey. The whole team, design, marketing, brand, development rallied to bring the vision to the market.
Giannis is a unique athlete and I wanted his first shoe to be unique as well, unlike anything else on the market. He asked us to create a shoe that stands for what is the most important thing to him : his family.
Performance became then embodied by a storytelling and design elements centered around his parents and his brothers. I wanted to make sure that every time he looked down at his feet during a game, he felt his family was there, with him in that moment.
What a year he had. Made it to conference finals, won MVP . And his shoe released with Nike basketball. Well deserved.
The first sketch I made of the concept. Done in the plane when travelling to Milwaukee to meet Giannis for the first time there. I wanted to represent the support his family would give him through performance.
It’s also the perfect moment to give a shoutout to the team that made it happen.
A father , Charles, that taught his sons to share and respect everyone. The roses were chosen by Giannis and his family to represent him, for various personal reasons.
The mechanical traction was created using the time zones map, and offsetting those lines to improve traction and also create a kind of African-inspired / Kente cloth type of pattern. This was inspired by a story Giannis shared with the team, when he used to sell watches in the street to help provide for his family.
The Antetokounmpo brotherhood is amazing. They all look after each other.
Giannis wanted enough space in the forefoot of the shoe, but also needed to feel locked in. The four bands represent his 4 brothers .( Francis, Thanasis, Kostas and Alex ) . They keep him grounded and safe. Both on court, and in life.
The soft shapes made of rubber ( were the father’s roses are ) that wrap around the shoe represent Veronica, his mom. I wanted to symbolize a mom’s embrace. Providing security. The wrap and the outrigger provide Giannis with better stability during his hard cuts and insane euro-steps.
A quick doodle that represent the design intentions and performance aspects.
On of his favorite movie, and a fun analogy to his path to the NBA.