Sneaker News 專訪 Nike Kobe 9 Elite 設計師 Eric Avar

隨著 Nike Kobe 9 Elite 的發布，著名球鞋網站 Sneaker News 便請來鞋款的設計者 Eric Avar，讓他簡要的介紹一下鞋款的設計思路和主要靈感。采訪過程中，設計師談及了許多相關問題，包括這款球鞋的獨特輪廓，物料的選擇，以及球鞋發展的趨勢。下面便帶來這次專訪的摘要內容，感興趣的朋友不妨前往 Sneaker News 閱讀完整文章。

Describe the process of working with Kobe, and why it’s so tough.
I wouldn’t describe it as tough – I would say it’s intense. Obviously Kobe is incredibly intense – very competitive, very detail-oriented. The way he plays the game is the way he wants to be involved in the design and innovation process. What he expects of himself, he expects from us, so it’s definitely intense. I’m a competitive person myself, so we just feed off of that – he pushes us.

Can you describe how Flyknit was engineered specifically for this shoe and sport?
Primarily, the type of fibers we used were different. We used some non-stretch fibers on the forefoot and the lateral, and more traditional fibers at the mid foot, and made use of more dynamic fibers up to the ankle collar for that dynamic fit. So it really was a combination of the type of fibers and type of stitches – tight stitches at the forefoot, moderate stitches at the mid foot, and simple dynamic stitches at the collar.