For our latest concept, we’ve played it relatively safe compared to some of our recent ideas, choosing a mix of colors and a model that it is practically impossible to go wrong with. That being said, we have done so in a way that hasn’t quite been done before, choosing to go for a look not uncommon for the Nike Dunk but applying it to the Air Force 1. The result is a beautiful shoe that would look great alongside a Duke Basketball Jersey. So, if this interests you, check out our shoe above, and read more about its inspiration below.
The concept’s upper is dressed in a blue leather base, with white leather overlays on the toe, heel, and around the eyestays. The swooshes also come in white, as well as the tongue and deubré, whilst the tongue and heel tags, and the laces and lining are in blue. The upper is then paired with a matching blue midsole and white outsole. The only detail on the shoe to veer from this two-color scheme is the black branding Nike Air branding on the tongue tag.
Our shoe takes inspiration from the colors of Duke University’s basketball team, the Blue Devils, one of the most prestigious college teams in America. Harboring talents like Zion Williamson, Kyrie Irving, and Grant Hill, Duke Basketball has been the theme of many Nike shoes, who are the team’s official sponsor. But we wanted to send some more love their way, this time using the Air Force 1 as our medium. Specifically, we chose to honor their white home uniforms, that feature white as the main color, with hits of blue running down the sides of the jerseys. Our shoe has taken on a similar look, inverting the traditional usage of white as a secondary color to blue for color blocking like this, to instead have the white features taking center stage.
Shoes inspired by college colors are nothing new. With university basketball jerseys becoming a commonly worn fashion staple outside the context of a college basketball game, it makes sense to want to have shoes to match. We thought the Air Force 1, which has been able to completely reinvent itself as a casual shoe since its original release as a basketball shoe, is, therefore, the perfect shoe for our concept. This is because its own history matches the change in the usage of these college jerseys and their colors so well, and together our concept proves they make one stunning shoe!