Representation is at the Heart of the Summer Nike N7 Collection

Lyle Thompson is less than 60 seconds into the first possession of the game, playing on his new team in Boston. On his first touch, the lacrosse forward kicks off a sequence that backs his reputation as one of the most talented lacrosse players in the world.

Cradling the ball, he sprints toward his defender behind the opposing net. Thompson spins, accepting the contact while using the defender’s momentum to pirouette toward the net, then launches a shovel shot over his right shoulder, diving to the ground. Thompson registers his first goal on his new squad so quickly that the moment could’ve been written into the game program.

Showing up right from the start — and consistently presenting the best version of himself to honor his team — is a principle Thompson stands by. That concept of representation also has layers of historical meaning for Indigenous communities across North America.

“In representation, it’s huge to continue to show up over time, otherwise you can’t expect to make significant change,” says Thompson. “This is especially true within Indigenous communities. If you show up once or only do something in the short term, you can actually hurt communities rather than help them.”

This year’s N7 collection focuses on lasting representation as a core theme. In the footwear, three silhouettes channel the backgrounds of three different athletes — Thompson, volleyball player Lauren Schad, and basketball guard Kyrie Irving — through personal design touches that are important symbols to their identities. The shoes, which include the Dunk Low, the nike air max 2021 and the Kyrie Low 4, will be available through the Nike By You builder, giving others a canvas to represent their own values.

Kyrie Irving, point guard for the Brooklyn Nets, possesses a spiritual rigor that drives him to connect his game and his being with history and social justice. In the past few years, Irving has been on a journey to reconnect with his community from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and in that process he has received his Lakota name, Hela, which means Little Mountain. During Irving's naming ceremony, he was gifted a star quilt, a brightly-colored traditional art form that inspired the colors and stitch detail graphic on his N7 Kyrie Low 4 for the summer collection.

The N7 Collection, featuring select footwear and apparel styles, releases June 21 in the U.S. and Canada at select Nike and Hibbett Sports retail locations and on nike.com.

Lauren Schad is originally from the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation and now plays professional volleyball for Nantes, France. Whether she is visiting her Lakota relatives in South Dakota, where she grew up, or traveling overseas for work, she makes a point of using her platform as an athlete to raise awareness on the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and to educate others about Indigenous people, eradicating stereotypes. The colors of the medicine wheel — a Lakota cultural symbol that represents balance and the four directions — are integrated into the N7 Air Zoom Type by Lauren, which also took inspiration from the intricate porcupine quill art that comes from her tribe.

1. Elements of full-grain leather: “I loved the idea of creating a shoe that has longevity. It’s a material that's intended to last.”
2. Purple colorway: The color represents the wampum shell, a natural oceanic shell from Thompson’s Onondaga nation used for crafting objects like bowls. “Our people used one-dish, one-spoon wampum to make treaties with our allies, but we also used them to make treaties with the Earth.”
3. The braided leather Swoosh: “Our people have been stripped of many parts of their identity throughout history, and one of those ways is through their hair. I wanted the braid to reflect a sense of pride about who we are.”

Learning how to represent comes from keen observation, Thompson says, and happens subtly. A vivid example occurs when kids watch how their mentors show up in the world. He remembers paying close attention to one of his biggest mentors, his older brother Jeremy. He studied Jeremy’s smallest patterns and habits, eager to act more like him in the ways he trained for lacrosse — the way he ran, the way he flicked his wrist on a shovel shot. “All of that knowledge is recycled; I can never take credit for learning it on my own,” Lyle says. “What I can do is pass it to the next generation.”

That’s exactly what Thompson’s 4 the Future Foundation does, using lacrosse to teach Indigenous youth about the values of persistence, respect and joy in sport. This commitment to mentorship is also core to the grantee partnerships made through the N7 Fund, which support Indigenous youth throughout North America with mentorship programs that help kids lead healthier and happier lives. In addition, the grants help deliver services that support education, guide career development and provide essential healthcare needs.

The close observation that takes place through mentorship is a priority across Nike. It’s reflected in programs like Women In jordan 1, which brings former WNBA players into the company to share an expertise and value system from their playing careers in a corporate environment. In the field of design, the Serena Design Crew and Nike x Design programs match diverse product and apparel talents with Nike designers, working together to lead seasonal capsules.

“My hope for anyone wearing the Dunk is to sense the Indigenous trait of resiliency. We represent a mindset, full of knowledge, that we can give to the world as the first people of North America."

Lyle Thompson

As corporate models, each program relies on listening to the voices of underrepresented groups to help Nike develop a more complete perspective on the world of sport. The silhouettes and apparel in N7 give Nike a similar opportunity to listen — and it's just as true now as it was in 2007, when the first N7 product was released. Through collaborations like Thompson’s Dunk, values can be transposed onto a wearable object.

“My hope for anyone wearing the Dunk is to sense the Indigenous trait of resiliency. We’re a resilient people,” says Thompson. “We represent a mindset, full of knowledge, that we can give to the world as the first people of North America. We represent a strong legacy that insists on showing up again and again despite the history of colonization. We’re proudly Indigenous, and we have a lot to give to the world.”

Meet the LeBron James Innovation Center

With its cantilevered top floor, the LeBron James Innovation Center is an attention grabber; its boldness is a spectacle of Nike’s sport-research capabilities. On that floor, the Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL) is reborn, housing the world’s largest motion-capture installation (400 cameras), 97 force plates, body-mapping equipment and so much more. In the words of Matthew Nurse, PhD, VP of the Nike Explore Team Sport Research Lab, “The NSRL is the epicenter of where we work with athletes of all abilities, all backgrounds, all skills and all sports.”

Some 40 years after its establishment in Exeter, New Hampshire, the NSRL continues to set the tone for performance breakthroughs. Within the LeBron James Innovation Center, the NSRL positions Nike for future decades of game-changing products and experiences for all athletes.

“Athletes can move here at full speed, full motion — they can just play,” says Dr Nurse.

By the Numbers

84,000

square feet dedicated to sport research

400

motion-capture cameras in the NSRL

---

97

force plates in the NSRL Fieldhouse

825

pieces of testing equipment in the NSRL

---

4

environmental chambers

80+

new prototyping machines

---

The LeBron James Innovation Center is where listening to the voice of the athlete is made tangible. While athletes are observed, other people are at play too: prototyping, testing and, yes, creating the future. The goal is to understand unique needs and opportunities, contextualize challenges, and generate breakthroughs across the spectrum of play and movement in a variety of environments.

The new scope of the NSRL is fivefold the footprint of its predecessor. Facilities include a full-size basketball court, a 200-meter endurance track, a 100-meter straightaway, and an artificial-turf training pitch — all in service of capturing athletes in motion at full speed. Along with the force plates and motion-capture equipment mentioned above, a series of four advanced climate chambers mimic a variety of conditions. These advancements support an expansion of research and development that encompasses both mental and physical well-being.

“Our goal every single day is to make athletes better and to make the world better for athletes,” says Kathy Gomez, VP of Footwear Innovation. “Understanding more types of bodies, more genders, more backgrounds and different ability levels helps us create better and more specific max 2021.”

LeBron on the LeBron James Innovation Center

Asked what it means to have Nike’s Innovation Center named after him, LeBron James stated, “Over the course of my career and my time here at Nike, for all of this to come together is surreal. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to me, but I’m definitely honored. Having my name on the Innovation building feels very fitting because I’m always trying to figure out ways I can continue to innovate and continue to break the timeline of what they say is your prime.”

 

An inside look at Nike’s new LeBron James Innovation Center

The insatiably curious community that works in the space allows for an intersecting mix of talent, from biomechanics researchers and robotics experts to computational designers and patent pros. In fact, the LeBron James Innovation Center is designed to facilitate collaboration and expeditious prototyping (created in under an hour).

“In the innovation space, we take information from the NSRL, and we are able to look at different ways to solve an athlete’s problem. It gets extremely interesting,” says Janett Nichol, VP of Apparel Innovation. “In a conventional way of building a product, we would just go straight to a material, get a pattern, sew it, and then that would be it. Here, we can go to anything from biology or chemistry to pushing the limits of a machine to create a very different experience with material.”

Once prototypes are made, capacity to test — and to adjust, test and repeat until an idea is solidified — is right there. It’s an undertaking informed by the scientific process.

“In the very beginning, we were a company for elite runners. We expanded to recreational runners, and then we got into other sports,” says Tom Clarke, President of Innovation. “At every step along the way, it’s been necessary to provide the research, and the scientific proof, that we’re making our products better.”

The Zoom Freak 3 is About Stretching Space to the Rim

The Zoom Freak 3 is built for creating space through radical downhill angles. The shoe’s tech supports the dominant physicality that defines Giannis Antetokounmpo’s style of play and helps to progress his Euro step, which the power forward uses to warp the distance between his body and the basket.

“One of the hallmarks of his athleticism is transferring energy quickly from leg to leg to maneuver his body through gaps,” says Ross Klein, Sr. Creative Director for Men’s Performance Footwear at Nike. “Giannis works his foot like a gas and brake. He also works all different angles of his foot as he’s driving to the basket, so we wanted to contour the design to fit the way he transitions from step to step.”

To that end, two Zoom Air max units under the ball of the foot help absorb energy and provide responsiveness. The set-up is low to the ground, which means the foot is in closer contact with the floor, leading to tight control for searing downhill attacks. The engineered upper helps keep Antetokounmpo’s foot contained, while the strap helps lock down the forefoot, making sure his center of gravity won’t slide over the footbed. The outsole takes inspiration from one of Nike basketball’s most recognizable traction patterns.

The black and purple Project 34 colorway and the orange Freak colorway of the Zoom Freak 3 releases globally July 1 and in North America in August.

Meet the Team Behind the Air Jordan XXXVI

 Learnings from the Air Jordan XXXIV and the Air Jordan XXXV led to the proposition behind the Air Jordan XXXVI, which combines the excellence of Jordan Brand product teams to achieve the many definitions of “light” and their effects on performance.[/caption]

With the Air Jordan XXXVI, Jordan Brand decided to shed materials — taking the learnings from doing just that in the Air Jordan XXXIV and XXXV — and see how far they could go. “Light” was the muse.

That muse unified teams of design specialists across the brand as they perfected the many definitions of the word. The Air Jordan XXXVI’s new features — a jacquard leno-weave upper, a full-length Zoom Air Strobel unit that’s double-stacked with a forefoot unit, a refined plate system — come from experts at Jordan Brand combining their specialties to make the best basketball shoe in the world.

“We want those who love the brand to see something that’s always been a part of our design legacy: the power of teamwork that goes on between a core group of folks to create product excellence,” says Martin Lotti, VP, Jordan Brand Design. “Jordan Brand is inspired by one man, but it’s carried into the future by many, many people who are experts in their field.”

By exploring three aspects of light, the Air Jordan XXXVI highlights the kind of

The Air Jordan XXXVI features a jacquard leno-weave material that composes the upper. Lightweight but also strong, the material bends and contours to provide support where it’s needed most.

Not only does the material help make a lightweight shoe for playing, the breathable leno-weave presents a see-through aesthetic that allows light and colors to shine through.

“Within the basketball landscape, we wanted to create a new language for light,” says Jacqueline Lefferts, Jordan Brand Lead Materials Designer. “We asked ourselves, What does light look like? It’s a product of the upper’s weight, but it’s also a trait of the upper itself in that light is a defining quality.”

What is Leno-Weave?

Leno-weave is a pattern of weaving that twists two warp yarns (“warp” is the lengthwise yarn) around the weft yarn (“weft” is the perpendicular yarn that move under-and-over the pattern). The resulting fabric is strong, lightweight, and adaptable to all kinds of shapes.

In basketball, lightweight on its own isn’t enough to create game-separating movement. Lightweight has to combine with a feeling or a sound — a pop that returns the force a player puts into the court.

A familiar sight, the multidirectional herringbone outsole pattern provides best-in-class traction to help players’ quickness, change of direction and control. What’s new underfoot is a full-length Zoom Strobel unit (you can see it through the heel window) with an additional forefoot zoom unit for an extra pop of responsiveness.

The Air Jordan XXXVI cushioning set-up is the most Zoom Air coverage that Jordan Brand has put into a signature shoe. A full-length Zoom Air Strobel unit is stitched directly to the upper, sitting above another forefoot Zoom Air unit for an extra burst of responsiveness. The multi-directional traction pattern is the ideal base to initiate that quickness, change of direction and control.

“One trend we noticed in the nike air max 2021 is how lightweight is typically described as a performance feature, which has been heavily marketed as ball handling and foot-to-court movement. All that is a fundamental part of the game, but the origins of the Jordan Brand were about tapping into the time off the floor, the hangtime, the flight,” says Chad Troyer, Jordan Brand Senior PLM. “In bringing in the Zoom Strobel and adding another Zoom unit beneath that, we were working toward that ‘pop’ for players so they can get of the floor quickly.”

The definition of “light” also relates to designing for the athleticism of Jordan Brand’s young roster. Players like Satou Sabally, Jayson Tatum, Kia Nurse, Luka Dončić and Zion Williamson are impossibly powerful and graceful at once, so they need game shoes that fit their athleticism, using every subtracted ounce of weight to their advantage. Even the sockliner of the Air Jordan XXXVI is perforated to remove weight and help the foot be in closer contact with the Zoom Air Strobel.

“The Jordan Brand Design team really did their thing,” says Satou Sabally, forward for the Dallas Wings. “The 36 is amazing. It’s super light. When you pick it up, you don’t just feel it — you see it. I knew from the minute I put it on that it’s going to be fun to play in.”

Filtered throughout the shoe’s design is Michael Jordan’s transcendent influence on basketball culture. The team shifted away from exposing the Zoom bags, a repeated trait from the Air Jordan XXXIV and XXXV, and enclosed them to connect a foam ribbon design through the midsole. The change was also meant to resemble an infinity symbol — you can trace the pattern across the midsole and never pick up your finger. The design still creates a functional kinetic system in the same way that Jordan Brand’s Flight Plate and Eclipse Plate did. That is, the heel helps protect against impact, while the force is loaded through the plate and launched into the forefoot. But the design was also meant to symbolize Michael Jordan’s infinite influence across the sport and beyond.

“We weren’t focused on exposing the bags anymore. We wanted to connect the ribbon and cover up the plate system,” says Tate Keurbis, Jordan Brand Footwear Designer. “In doing so, we brought in subtle details from the Air Jordan VI and created a tooling that conveys Michael’s lasting influence in worldwide culture.”

The Eclipse Plate from the previous two Air Jordan models is hollowed out between the outsole and midsole in the Air Jordan XXXVI to help reduce weight and expose the shoe’s stabilizing shank.

Other details are inspired by the silhouette’s muse in the line, the Air Jordan VI. A lace cover, cutouts on the outsole, and embellishments on the heel are tributes to the shoe in which Michael Jordan won his first title.