Earlier this month, we were invited over to Madrid for Nike’s (likely annual) ‘SneakerBall’ event. Held at the Palacio de Cibeles in 2014, SneakerBall is basically the ultimate night for anyone with an interest in basketball and sneakers (i.e. us). Madrid was in full festival mode, as European teams battled it out in half court games for Nike’s #SearchForTheBaddest basketball competition. Court side, a ‘genealogy of basketball sneakers’ exhibition was curated by London’s Gary Warnett – who heads might know as a living, breathing sneaker encyclopaedia.
Before the event launched however, we went along to a discussion between Nike Sportswear Design Director Marc Dolce and French filmmaker, writer and renowned sneaker head Thibaut de Longeville. Moderated by Warnett, the trio discussed the sneaker game in detail, with a focus on the role Nike has played in the culture over the decades, particularly with the Air Force 1. After the event, we caught up with Marc for a more in-depth chat about his role at Nike, how he responds to trends, and the continued dominance of Nike in the sportswear world. Check it out below, along with a few photos from the event.
You’ve always been a Nike head — we heard you only wore Nike through high school — so what was your journey like from graduation through to working for the brand?
I always had a passion for Nike growing up. Those classic ads that made me feel connected and part of a brand. So I had an opportunity to get into footwear design having worked for some other brands in New York, but I knew that I’d make my way up to Nike. I started desiging shoes when I was 19 and now I’ve been doing it for 19 years, so it’s crazy to think that I’ve been in the industry this long. It took me about six years of talking with Nike recruitment to find the right role, but I’ve been in Sportswear now for nine years. I’ve done various work – from boots, to tennis, to basketball to running, women’s, and indie stuff like Quickstrikes – but now I’m focusing on basketball, NFL and training.
What does the job of Design Director of Nike Sportswear entail?
Basically it’s setting the vision and the tone for the season — building out an innovation work plan and really developing ideas around franchises and icons like the Air Force 1s, or Dunks, or Blazers. Also managing a group of designers and helping them create the future — that’s really important — allowing them to develop some of the more high-profile projects and helping them to focus on some of those key franchises. The thing about Nike design is how collaborative it is. There’s probably about 500 designers at Nike, and everyone works so well together. It’s like a constant sharing of ideas. So when we see something cool happening in another category, we try and pull it to our side and vice versa, and I think you’ll see that more and more over the next few seasons.
While you’re obviously working with a lot of other designers, do you bring a personal design philosophy to the mix?
Yeah, I mean I think you have a gut feeling about projects, but ultimately it’s up to the consumer to decide what’s right. I’m basing everything that I know on years of work, but I’m aware that the consumer of today is younger, faster and much more connected socially. So it’s important when we go into a season that we know what their insights are, and try to problem-solve so we can cater to their needs. I think at Nike we have the ability to create trends, so we don’t necessarily have to follow. But it’s about figuring out what they need, so we can make their shoes fit, feel and perform better. We’re tasked to do that.
So you’ve got to have an ability to be slightly reactionary to trends?
Yeah, I’d say it’s slightly reactionary, but it’s more about taking seasonality and bringing that into the picture. You know — like making shoes more breathable in summer and more protective in winter, and thinking about all the various weather conditions in the world. We work globally, so there’s a lot of data to go through before the product comes out.
Speaking of trends, obviously Nike Sportswear’s had a lot to do with running style permeating into everyday fashion, by taking running-inspired designs and making them lifestyle products.
Yeah, I think I’d agree with that. I mean, you look at Nike in 1986 — it was Air Max. In ’82 it was Huarache. Then it was Air Max ’95, then ’97 — then Lunar came along, then Flyknit. Each one of those was based on a performance consumer insight and those innovations then became style. That’s the greatest achievement, when you can make something perform better but also make it very wearable — turning it into the “modern look” or “uniform” of youth.
Is that what you’d define as the essence of NSW?
Absolutely.
In terms of a design goal, where are you trying to take the brand this season?
We’re looking at lightweight comfort, but it’s also about durability, protection, etc. Especially going into the winter, it’s about weatherproofing, waterproofing … those become the critical elements. Look at the ‘SneakerBoot’.
Then lightweight design comes back in the summer, thinking about the shoe from the inside out.
A lot of what you do isn’t so much design, but re-design — like taking influence from the Air Force 1 and turning it into the Lunar Force 1, for example. What are the considerations that need to be taken into account when you’re evolving an iconic product?
I think innovation is really just an obsession with wanting to make a product better. We took Air Force and made it Lunar Force, and now we’ve done Lunar Force 2, which is basically Lunar Force 2014. Really we designed the first one, and found that it worked well, and that there were things we could leverage. So we went back and tried to make it even better. It was really an obsession with refinement of detail.
Was it intimidating working with a sneaker with that sort of legacy?
Yeah, I think it’s easier to create a shoe from scratch than it is to re-develop an icon. With something brand new, there’s no expectations or pre-conceived notions of what there is or should be. With an icon, there’s something that is loved and revered by many. It’s like, ‘don’t mess my shoe up’ – which is the way it will always be with some people. But if we truly have the vision, then it’s up to us to allow the consumer to see it. Let them come on a journey with us.
People expect it from Nike, though — you don’t expect a certain Nike model to stay in one format forever. Everyone’s favorite sneakers have continued to evolve at Nike.
Yeah, but also there are certain people who want their shoes to stay exactly the same, so we try to issue retro shoes as true to their original form as possible. Then there’s a time to innovate the retro. Then there’s new space. So there is classic, hybrid and new. If we can work on all three of those and make families – which is what we’re trying to do for the AF1 – we’re not gonna get rid of the original. We’re just gonna try to make it slightly better, then we’re gonna add newer ideas that will help take it to a new space.
You’re working between NBA and NFL. What’s your take on why basketball has become a global sport, but football has remained fairly exclusive to the US?
I think basketball is a sport where you only need two elements: a basket and a ball. With football it’s much more complex. You need equipment and it’s harder for other countries to adopt when there’s so much effort that has to go into it. It’s harder to set up a club, you know? That’s why soccer and basketball will always be the global sports.
Then there’s also the whole culture that surrounds basketball, which isn’t as prominent with football on a global scale.
Yeah. Being here in Madrid, and in Paris at [streetball tournament] Quai 54, I was more impressed by watching the people in the stands cheer and be excited by what was going – showcasing their individuality and personality. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen in New York or any other city.
So how would you like to evolve the NSW line while you’re still there?
I really wanna continue on the idea of refinement. I think that there’s a new space that hasn’t fully evolved yet. I think we’ve done the classic, and we’ve done the hybrid, but we’ve done very little on the new side. The Lunar Free Orbit or the Free Orbit 2 is a good example of that – it’s just the beginning of where we can go. Consumers now understand that there could be new models coming out from NSW for lifestyle purposes. I’m excited about that.
Finally, for the record, what’s your favorite basketball sneaker?
If I had to pick on the Jordan side, it’s probably the Jordan 5 or 7 — and if it’s on the Nike side … I love the Huarache but I’d probably end up picking the Penny 1 or Foamposite. Just watching Penny play, he was so exciting in those first few years. My mom got me a jersey when I was a kid, so to be able to come full circle and partner with him is pretty nice.
Update: Last week it was announced that Marc is one of three Nike designers making the move to adidas. Alongside Mark Miner and Denis Dekovic, he’ll be working from a new creative studio in Brooklyn. Given the legacy he’s leaving behind at Nike, we’re excited to see how that goes.
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