Like what you sea! – Air Force 1 Sea Blue

For our latest concept, we are revisiting a once common source of inspiration for us, the ocean, and its spectrum of blues that we connect it with. This time taking on the Air Force 1, we feel satisfied we have been able to create a stellar colorway that complements our chosen silhouette. Check out our concept for yourself above and read more about our thought process below. 

Our concept comes in a leather upper, with the toe box and mid panels covered in a royal blue, whilst the mudguard and heel panel are covered in navy blue. An even darker blue then appears on the leather eyestay overlay and the lining, whilst the tongue is coated in royal blue, and the laces in navy. White detailing is present on the tongue tag and the Nike swoosh on the sides of the shoe. The sole is no different, with the outsole covered in white, against a dark blue midsole. 

It’s been a while since we have done an ocean-influenced silhouette, or even used blue as the main color on a shoe, having explored the possibilities of red, black, and white models more recently. Whilst we have continued to use white on our model, to represent the sea foam at the top of a wave, our silhouette is overall much darker in color than previous ocean-inspired shoes, utilizing much stronger and darker blues to conjure images of being closer to the seafloor. This is because, the lower down you go, the less light reaches the water and therefore it appears much darker in color, which is also why it’s fitting our midsole comes in a darker blue than the main part of the upper, alluding to this idea of the sea looking darker the deeper you go. The darker blue also offers a stronger contrast with the white outsole we have utilized, so it’s overall a great fit. 

The Air Force 1 is known for being the classic shoes of big cities, most notably New York, and its identity has been crafted in urban communities. But for our latest concept, we wanted to flip the Air Force 1 on its head by taking inspiration from nature. With that being said though, it was very important to do so in a manner that understood the shoe we were playing around with, hence why we chose to keep our color blocking traditional to how Air Force 1 is usually colored.