(upbeat music)
- One of the freshest drops this week
was the Nike First Gen, designed by one of our very own,
VP of Design Rich Tu.
What up, dude?
- Thanks, Kevin.
- Thanks for taking the time, man.
This is, first off, this is like a sneakerhead's dream.
You design sneakers, right?
How did you get this opportunity with Nike?
- Well, I had the great opportunity to join
Nike's Cultivator program,
where they take a lot of great creatives
that are in specific cities.
This drop was for New York City,
and we all got to work on our very own sneakers,
and design them according to our own stories.
So, for me, this started with
this personal project that I do.
It's called First Generation Burden.
It's a podcast that I host where we speak to
immigrants and the children of immigrants
and really kind of elevate that voice,
and then Nike was really inspired by that story,
so they allowed me to tell that story through the shoe,
through the Air Max 270 Reacts,
and from a color and design perspective,
there is something that really resonates
with a lot of immigrants, which is oxidized metal.
So if you're familiar with oxidized metal,
it's something that happens in a lot of countries.
It's a very organic texture,
and it's also very present in the Statue of Liberty,
because that is oxidized copper.
- [Kevin] Rocking some sweet shades.
- Oh yeah, exactly.
That statue's wavy for sure, very New York specific.
So, that's where you see the oranges and the teals
really pop off, especially that beautiful blending
energy from the front to the back,
and, of course, you have the little Statue of Liberty icon
to connect all the dots.
- This particular silhouette of a shoe
really opens up the creativity potential
for you as a designer.
Why is that?
- Well, first of all, when it comes to sneaker and design,
you are always looking for the opportunities.
Also, shoutout to Dylan Raasch on the Nike side,
who designed the actual model himself.
So these shoes are very complex.
There is a lot of paneling.
So it actually provides a lot of opportunities
for complexity and storytelling.
That's why you can see these different splits in the upper.
You have this, these eyelets
that are also their own separate piece.
Also, the opportunity for graphics on the back.
You can pop the bubble in its own color way.
You can even pop the outsole
with that beautiful React texture out here.
So you can really do something that is unique
and really stands out on the streets.
- Now Rich, if somebody's watching Fresh Out right now
and they want to grab these, where can we cop these?
How do they get them?
- So there is a very special website
that goes right to Nike.com.
It's through Cultivator,
and also, I just want to let everybody know
that the proceeds that I get from the shoe
are all going to the ACLU.
- [Kevin] That's awesome.
- To help benefit immigrants' rights,
because I think that's very important.
It's a very important thing to me.
- Yeah. Absolutely. That's amazing,
and again, only available until Labor Day,
so get out there if you dig them.
Let's talk about these shoes though,
because I just got to big you up really quick.
Everything you see on your screen right now,
you designed, which I think is so, it's just incredible.
- [Rich] With a lot of people.
- Well, yes of course. Of course. Of course.
They are just so creative.
Talk to me about these.
I've actually been a longtime admirer.
I love the Foamposites,
and you took it in a really cool, creative direction
with these guys.
- All right, so a couple years ago,
we were celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Foamposite,
because it's a classic shoe.
Penny Hardaway, looks like a Xenomorph on your feet, right?
So I was looking at the Nike Archives,
also shoutout to Wilson Smith,
who designed the Uptempo, another classic sneakerhead model,
who gave me access to the Archives.
So he plays a beautiful piece in it.
He actually showed me a poster of this Penny Hardaway,
plus Lil Penny.
Remember Lil Penny?
- Of course. Shoutout to Lil Penny.
- Exactly.
Voiced by Chris Rock.
Don't get it twisted.
So there was a poster that had all of this
beautiful hand-done type that said,
"Hey, Penny. Show me how to play ball."
And I took that poster, took it to heart,
and also took it physically, and then recreated that type,
and then made an allover print pattern on this Foamposite.
- So cool.
- Yeah.
Then it has, "Hey Penny, Penny," on the lateral side.
So a little bit of sneaker anatomy.
Your lateral side is your outward facing side.
Your medial side is your inward facing side,
and there is that beautiful graphic,
and also custom stitching.
- So cool.
- And a little bit of a little peace sign,
so the kids know what's up.
- And just for the super, super-duper sneakerheads
watching Fresh Out right now, can you tell us what this is?
I've never seen this before, but it's pretty interesting.
- Absolutely.
So for sneaker designers, this is pretty run-of-the-mill,
so, especially for Foamposites.
So there is the idea of a lay flat,
and a lay flat is the upper construction
that connects to the midsole,
as well as basically encases your foot in the shoe.
So we would design these graphics to a lay flat like this,
that usually has this half-egg shape,
and then at the factories, they will take that piece,
and then they'll mold it onto the top.
So that works with a lot of sneakers,
and the Foamposite specifically,
because it is such a beautiful construction
that the lay flat is very beautiful and structural, as well.
- Let's get down to these Band-aids, man.
These Kyries are pretty ill, and they, I love the texture.
That's what jumps out to me at first.
You were telling me before there's only two of these
that exist in the world.
One of them, I think, was game worn.
- Yes, exactly.
So this is a PE, and in sneaker talk,
that's a Player Exclusive,
and we base this story on a legend from
Kyrie Irving's youth, where he was playing in an AAU game,
and the night before the game, he's roughhousing at a pool,
and hits his head in the pool,
and then has to get stitches on his forehead.
So he wears a Band-aid in the next day,
catches the W at the game.
So we wanted to tell that story,
and also through the lens of a sneakerhead.
We took your customary bandage.
That's where your gum sole comes from.
Also, every good sneakerhead loves a gum sole.
Simple black upper, and then there are all these details.
I'll show you on the young athlete's version.
There's this dimpled swoosh, is reminiscent of a bandage,
and then also for the tongue top, same pattern,
but then just a little bit of that dimensionality
to continue to tell the story,
and also on the inside of the shoe it says,
"No diving" on top of a Spanish tile pool pattern.
- This is really cool, Rich.
It seems that every shoe has a story.
- Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
I think, not even just when it comes to sneakers.
I think for anything that comes from a crafted, curated,
design space, really getting to the heart
of the narrative that you're trying to tell
is paramount to the entire situation,
and I think what was beautiful about
working with Nike and all those great people in my past
was that they really value the story of their athletes,
and also all of the great team members.
- And late night snacks that they're into,
because these are called the Mac & Cheese
and they are the Kyrie models.
How did this come about?
Because this is another really cool rendition, man.
- Right, so this was a really fun story,
and for those who don't know, you can Google it.
Kyrie Irving's favorite food is mac 'n cheese,
so some of the details here I can show
with these pieces.
We did a melty cheese Kyrie Irving logo
that was specific to the tongue top,
and also, we made these custom insole graphics.
This is a noodle pattern.
So we got to design that, and then in terms of color,
we used yellow, white, and blue,
reminiscent of a very popular macaroni and cheese brand,
and then we have a silver swoosh, because that's the spoon.
- I'm simultaneously inspired, ready to play basketball
and also hungry somehow right now, Rich.
So thank you so much for stopping by Fresh Out, man.
- Cheers. Thank you very much.