With a release date of the 31st of March in our sights, waiting for the Jordan x Brian ‘KAWS’ Donnelly Collab is like waiting for Christmas. So as a pre-launch treat to us, Nike has taken us behind the scenes and into their creative house to fill us in the details of how this mastery of a collab started.

The new collab blurs the line between sneaker and art.

Something only KAWS can do with his ‘X’ marks the spot imagery. Creator of KAWS, Brian Donnelly, is not a sneakerhead, he doesn’t line up for the latest Nike drops and tends to go simple with footwear.

This is why the artist gravitated towards the Air Jordan IV, says Gemo Wong the Head of Energy Projects at Nike.

“KAWS gravitated to the Air Jordan IV from an aesthetic point of view … he picked what he liked from a pure design perspective. KAWS uses the color grey in the process of building his companion pieces and dolls that he sells. And for us, grey has been a key color within our Jordan palette, so the colorway made sense for both parties.”

 

KAWS confirmed his personal style and inspiration behind the Air Jordan IV collab in an interview with Nike.

I think this time I just made a shoe for myself. I love grey suede. It’s nice when other people like the shoe, but in the end I just have the shoe that I want.

Get up close & personal with the full range here…

Imagery & Quotes from Nike.