Nike releases ten reimagined sneakers built in four days by a 14-woman design team

Nike today is dropping 9 new sneakers as reimagined by an all-female internal team of designers. The women worked together to create different personas for the Air Jordan 1 and Air Force 1. Introducing new designs never before seen in a Nike sneaker, the team’s unique design approach has built something memorable.

About the 1 Reimagined project:

Nike’s goal with the project was to pull together a team of women from inside the company to envision the Air Force 1 and Air Jordan 1 in a new light. Pulling from a multitude of areas in the company, Nike landed on a team of 14 women which include Shamees Aden, Reba Brammer, Marie Crow, Melusine Dieudonne, Magnhild Disington, Jin Hong, Georgina James, Angela Martin, Kara Nykreim, Marie Odinot, Louisa Page, Jacqueline Schoeffel, Jesi Small, and Chiyo Takahashi.

Each female designer brought a different asset and background to the diverse team. With a time frame of only two weeks, the women were told, “make some cool shit.”

The final designs landed on pared-down silhouettes of the sneakers while establishing five new visions for each: explorer, lover, sage, rebel, and jester.

[Georgina] James declared these archetypes and combined them with a set of rules (covering how the designers were to balance critical candor and respect while working) as the lone parameters to follow during the project’s next steps.

The lack of color in the designs was a very deliberate one by the team.

[Marie] Crow shares that they explored expressive color and materials for the collection but the group ultimately decided on a muted palette. “We soon realized that the silhouette had to be the headliner. Color and materials had to be complimentary and boldly wearable. So we looked at different blockings and different details that we could accentuate,” she says.

After only four working days in London, the design team had their vision complete. The Air Jordan 1 and Air Force 1 reimagined are available now on Nike.com.