A Conversation with Hiroshi Fujiwara About His Upcoming Collaborations with Nike & Jordan Brand

Following the unveiling of the Hiroshi Fujiwara collaborations with Nike and Jordan Brand, the Japanese designer has opened up on the inspirations and process which saw the projects come to fruition. The collaborations span new iterations to a number of signature silhouettes such as the Roshe, Sock Dart and Jordan 1 but fans of the sneakers may not realize the throwback yet contemporary details Fujiwara implemented. Furthermore, the designer goes on to speak about the bold color choices for the models and lets out that we should be expecting even more collaborations coming soon. Enjoy the small interview below and keep an eye out for the Roshe LD-1000 SP to release today at select retailers including NikeLab locations as well as its online store, while you can also stay tuned for more details on the release dates for the rest of the shoes as they come through.

Could you tell us a bit about the Nike Roshe LD-1000 SP / fragment? Why did you choose Navy in particular for this pair?
Basically speaking, I really like navy-colored shoes and I don’t generally wear that color with suede, so I tried navy as the base this time around.

Which parts did you focus on in particular?
We tried our best to stick to the original in terms of design, while bringing out it’s own particular originality.

Out of the three models in this presentation, which one speaks to you the most?
Definitely the Sock Dart. For me, it’s an item I’ve dreamed of doing a collaboration on so I was really happy when we finally got to do it. When I first went to the Nike headquarters in Oregon, I was surprised when I saw incomplete samples of the Sock Dart. The bonding of the sole to the bottom of the shoe was an especially interesting experience.

This is something that happened 15 years ago, but looking at the shoe even now, the design is very modern. There’s a lot of futuristic looking shoes that you want to wear but can’t. But the Sock Dart is functional so I actually love wearing them every summer. I’ve got five different colors of them.

How about the Air Jordan 1?
There was a lots of talk about doing something with the Jordan, so I thought it’d be nice to do the Air Jordan 1 because I wear them a lot. The materials follow the original pretty closely and the toe box appears in a special black that’s popular right now called “Black Toe.” I thought to myself how would that look in black and blue, so I sought to create my own sort of urban legend with this latest pair. It’s one of the many models I like and we were able to get a color combo that wasn’t really possible on the original, so I’m really satisfied with the final result.

Could you tell us about any other upcoming collaborations?
We plan to announce something new next year. It’s always a pleasure trying to do a shoe that will not only revive the original vibe but also add something new of its own.