What do you get when you mix a classic Nike shoe, a cutting edge Dutch designer, and renowned textile company? A beautifully unique hand-crafted shoe design called Layers Airforce. This eye-catching shoe above is a redesign of the classic Nike Air Force 1, using a Maharam textile designed by Dutch designer du jour Hella Jongerius. The shoe now features a sophisticated 2-tier wool fabric, aptly named “Layers,” which was developed by textile studio Maharam in cahoots with dutch design star Hella Jongerius. The shoe is becoming part of a new line Nike has created, called Nike 1World, which features finely-crafted, re-invented Air Force 1 footwear created in partnership with 18 distinguished athletes, designers, musicians and artists from around the world. The Nike 1 World by Maharam was launched on April 1st at an exclusive shindig at the Moss store in New York City.
From Nike Maharam Hella Jongerius
The Layers pattern, which overlays embroidery over an artisanal hand-cut pattern, is a design icon in its own right – and is part of collections at the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cooper-Hewitt. A far cry from the original function-over-form Air Force 1 released all the way back in 1982, the Maharam + Jongerius remake is a thoughtful mix of technology and art, called an “industrial craft” hybrid by its makers. “The result represents a multi-disciplinary undertaking, bridging disparate aspects of industrial design with sports technology, textile design and the conceptual avant-garde,” says Nike.
You can scoop up a pair of your own at the Moss store, where the Layers AF1s will be sold exclusively beginning April 2009.
+ Nike 1World AF1 by Maharam with Hella Jongerius
