Aaron Kr. 
If Jason Petrie wasn’t designing LeBron’s sneakers for Nike, there’s a good chance he’d be on a computer somewhere surfing the sneaker sites for a look at the latest kicks, just like you. As a matter of fact, Jason is still doing that anyway, because unlike many of his trailblazing design predecessors at Nike, he has grown up living and breathing not only design, but also the history and culture surrounding the sneaker game. When Bruce Kilgore was drafting up the Air Force 1 and Tinker Hatfield was designing just about every other classic Nike shoe you love, there really was no tangible sneaker culture, no such word as “sneakerhead” and nowhere near the exchange of information that we see today in the internet age. Those pioneers created shoes that attracted a ravenous fanbase of Swoosh-crazed consumers, and as a result, paved the way for a new wave of creative forces that are now rising to prominence in the sneaker industry. Jason Petrie is one of the leaders of this bold new generation of Nike designers, equipped with not only the necessary technical skills, but just as important, an understanding of the game and an impassioned reverence for the sneaker masterpieces that came before them. Shoes for the people, by the people.
Petrie approaches his work with his finger firmly on the pulse and a humble appreciation for those who spend their hard earned money on the shoes that he brings to life. As lead designer for the Nike LeBron line, he has been entrusted with one of the brand’s hottest commodities and no one takes that responsibility more seriously. With two huge hits under his belt with the LeBron 7 and 8, the pressure is only getting greater every time he sits down to develop the next shoe. As with the previous two, the LeBron 9 was not immediately embraced by the always scrutinous sneaker community, but just like with the others, it didn’t seem to take long for people to come around. We recently sat down with Jason to chat about the NBA lockout, South Beach resale prices and of course, the Nike LeBron 9. Keep reading for the full interview, featuring some juicy LeBron 9 sample pics and some interesting insight into why the LeBron 9 is designed like an odd number and how early versions of the shoe featured Foamposite on the upper!
Sneaker News: When we last interviewed you for the LeBron 8 release, we were fresh off “the decision” and there was a lot of LeBron-to-Miami backlash in the air. Now for the release of the LeBron 9, we’re in the middle of an NBA lockout. How do some of these off the court situations affect the way you approach the LeBron line or do they not even factor in?
Jason Petrie: Well, they don’t really factor in, because they happen so far after the shoe is created. With the LeBron 9, we knew there was a possibility that the lockout might be coming, so we came up with some contingency plans. That’s kinda why you see the college pack. It’s a way to get the shoe out there a little bit more with some universities that he likes and has an association with. So just in case there was no NBA season, we could still be showing it off.
So, we do think about it, but really, we still go through as if there’s gonna be a season. And with the transition to the Heat (with the LeBron 8), we knew that his contract was up and knew that he was thinking about going somewhere, but we still didn’t know the answer until the decision day. And by that time, a lot of the shoe was already finished, so what we did was try to incorporate more of that storytelling into his shoe and bring that to life. But because we’re usually a year and a half out, we gotta just keep plugging away and be as prepared as we can for whatever may come along.
SN: Are you frustrated over the lockout or is it just a chance to get more creative and do some outside the box things as a result?
JP: No, absolutely I’m frustrated. You know, I’m saddened because I just miss basketball, and I think as an entire team at Nike Basketball, that’s our lifeblood. College and pro hoops are something that we look forward to and that first game of the year is like Christmas Day to us. So from that aspect, it’s not the best situation and we just wish there was some basketball on. To see the games and see the players play – and not just our own guys. We just love the sport.
It’s a shame because we just feel like we have so many amazing stories with the LeBron 9. You’ve already seen some crazy colors and there’s these stories that we wanna get out there and wanna tell more, but without the guys playing, it becomes a little tougher. It’s a little disappointing, but I feel like they’ll get there eventually, and in the meantime, we’ve just gotta make sure we have LeBrons ready for when it does start. We’re always preparing and always continuing to go as if there is gonna be a season, because you’ve gotta be ready at the drop of a hat.
SN: We know that you’re a frequent reader of some of the sneaker blogs. What’s your reaction to the online feedback that you see about your designs in the comments on these sites?
JP: (Laughs) You know, it’s kind of a mixed bag. For me now, I’ve been through three LeBrons and every time, it’s been the same thing. Everybody resoundly hates it from the early pictures or bad samples or fakes or whatever it is. And then by the time the shoe finally comes out and you hold it in your hand, it’s pretty much a 180. So maybe at first with the 7 and at the start of the 8, I was a little concerned, but we kinda called it with the 9, because it was a pretty directional design and it’s definitely something different. So we figured that there would be the same kind of reaction, where everybody is like Oh, it’s the ugliest thing ever! – and then once you try it on, and you play in it, and you look at the quality, the depth, the color work and all that laid into it…
We put too much love and attention to detail, too much crafting and testing and time with the athletes into the shoes for them not to be, at the very least, an incredible basketball shoe. And we feel like that’s what we do. We make the best basketball shoes we can for on the court and everything else is gravy. We feel like the looks will follow that, and if you make a great basketball shoe, it’s gonna look cool. And if you tell great stories, it’s gonna look cool. But if we make it perform first and let that drive everything else, then we feel good about what we do.
It’s humorous and sometimes it can be a little frustrating. You wanna correct people, but it’s just best to let them make their own assumptions. You know, design is such a subjective thing, but performance really isn’t. We test and prove our shoes so you can say it looks ugly, but one thing you can’t do is doubt its performance on court, because it will be a performance beast.
SN: Historically, Nike Basketball shoes and specifically the previous two LeBron models you’ve designed have been a double threat both on the court and out on the street with a pair of jeans. Obviously the performance comes first, but when you approach the aesthetics of a new shoe, is that something that you consider and are you consciously shooting to address both?
JP: Well, I think at Nike, what sets us apart is that we have a sense of style, but that style is innately driven by the performance of the shoe. And it’s always been that way from Jordans to Penny’s and all that. So there’s that innate sense of Nike style that definitely comes into it and then there’s the athlete, obviously. In talking with LeBron, he obviously has a lot of influence on that and by taking cues and inspiration from him, we pull his style into the shoe. And he wears it around and kinda gives it a personality.
But what won’t happen is, say you have a woven leather tongue that may look great and the athlete may love it, but if the performance isn’t there and you could have something lighter, more breathable and stretchier, then that’s gonna win out over that woven leather that looks cool. So we consider it, but it’s not winning any races to performance at the end of the day. With LeBron as that CEO of court and culture, we make sure we run it through his eyes and really let him be the filter, and if it looks good to him, then that’s what we’re shooting for.
SN: We’ve talked from time to time about some of the unofficial nicknames that wind up getting attached to a lot of the colorways. it can help the shoes to establish a memorable identity, but do you get frustrated when the eventual name that sticks may stray from the concept you were originally aiming for?
JP: (Laughs) It’s not frustration. I think the fact that people are talking about the shoes enough to give them nicknames is cool. It’s really endearing and sometimes, they’re awesome nicknames and that’s just part of sneaker culture and I can appreciate that 100 percent and actually enjoy it. It’s just like when things like the Miami Nights come around and people misread things. Because the real Miami Nights was a LeBron 9, and then it got applied to a shoe that had nothing to do with Miami Nights (LeBron 8 V2 Low ‘Flamingo’). Then it gets a little confusing to people, like Why’d they tell the same story twice? or Hey, this doesn’t look like Miami Nights! It just gets a little convoluted sometimes and that’s a shame, but in the end, it’s just a nickname which basically means nothing. It’s really just something for sneakerheads to identify with and that’s just cool for what it is in itself. We just have to do a better job maybe of communicating what those things are ahead of time, but it’s just difficult to do that as you can probably understand. But keep doing it! You know I love to see things like ‘Scarfaces’ and ‘Megatrons’ and all that kinda stuff. It’s funny. We always talk about – Is it the Pre-Heat or is it the South Beach? And it’s funny, because we didn’t even name it!
SN: Speaking of that, the ‘South Beach’ LeBron 8 now goes for somewhere in the neighborhood of $1000 on the resale market. What’s it like to see a shoe that you were such a big part of become a sneaker legend and fetch that kind of a price now?
JP: Unbelievable. It’s just so crazy! I’m really proud of that shoe and the work we did as a team on it. Just how the colorway came to life and the whole story behind where that colorway came from and the fight that we had to go through to get it out just makes it even more rewarding for those of us that worked on it. All I can feel is pride and I’m glad I’ve got a couple pairs on ice. I’m just happy it was a success and looking back on it now, and seeing that moment – LeBron changing teams and that shoe coming out and a celebration of Miami. It really just captures the essence of that whole thing. The decision, the new team, the new season, all that.
When you look at that shoe, you think of all those things and that’s a huge moment in the history of the NBA and now it’s turned out to be kind of a big moment in sneaker culture. I don’t know, it’s just really cool. Really humbling and unbelievable to be part of the lexicon of the game that I love so much too. Back when we were growing up, thinking of a shoe costing $1000! Even $100 was crazy! So it’s awesome and I hope we can have another one or two of those in the bag before it’s all said and done.
SN: It’s gonna be tough to recapture the same perfect storm of scenarios that were working in unison for the South Beach, but is there anything wild planned for the LeBron 9 that may give it a run for its money? No pun intended.
JP: Well, I think you said it right. It was more than just the shoe. That color symbolized Miami so much. It was LeBron’s kinda unveiling of the shoe there. There was so much energy and so much hate and love and everything going on at the same time, that I think that shoe came together like a perfect storm. And it makes it more than just a hot shoe when you think of all those other things around it – sorta like your favorite Jordan. There’s so many memories associated with it. Mike hit this shot in that shoe or whatever. It gives you something else to latch onto and to love.
So I think we have plenty of shoes capable of doing that as far as heat-wise, you know, shoes that are that dope, but it’s gonna take some other special event or a moment created around it that really takes it to that next level. It could be anything. Who knows? You never know what it will be with culture and those kinda phenomenons. We just wanna be prepared and have the hottest shoes we can out there for when and if those things come around. That being said, there’s so many dope colors of the 9 that are still coming, that any one of those could be it. I’m actually surprised none of those have leaked yet. I’m very happy about that. (Laughs)
SN: The most notable visual aspect of the 9 is the carbon fiber inspired panels. What was behind bringing that material into the design and what function does it serve?
JP: Well, they’re not really carbon-fiber inspired necessarily. They kinda look like carbon fiber because they’re woven and we put a lot of black out there, but the reasoning behind using that material was that the weave, as well as the actual woven strips of nylon, provided a material that would move and flex and be lightweight. It moved and flexed where we wanted it to, but it was still firm in other areas of motion and it’s lighter than some traditional materials. Initially, we were looking at doing foam there, like a Foamposite kinda wing, but it turned out that was a little heavier and the process was much more expensive. So through testing that and working with different materials, we found this material and played with the weave, the size and the engineering of that piece to get to what you see as the final aesthetic.
So it’s not meant to be carbon fiber. Carbon fiber has a whole different band of benefits and reasons for usage and you see us use that from time to time, and maybe we’ll see more of that in the future, but this really was about getting a wing that would provide stability in one direction and allow you to be flexible in other directions, while being protective, lightweight and visually appealing as well. And that wing actually extends down underneath the shoe, so it’s not just that wing shape you see that’s exposed. It really anchors it into the footbed to lock you down. And it turned out that with using that material, we made it a lighter, thinner package that allowed us to do some other things inside the shoe like Pro-Combat.
SN: The LeBron 9 leaves behind the full Air Max bag for a Max/Zoom combo. Was that choice based on positive feedback from LeBron after playing in the LeBron 8 PS?
JP: Pretty much. Originally, we set the PS up with the notion of the shortened season and the playoff run, so you don’t need that full protection of the Air Max under your foot and LeBron really enjoyed the way that shoe felt and the responsiveness that he got from that Zoom in the forefoot. It allowed us to make a lighter, sleeker shoe and we were trying to get a little more form-fitting as we continued to move down the line. So yeah, it really came from his response and the response we were getting from wear-testers on how we could make it better for this new model. That allowed us to eventually get to a shoe that’s a little lower to the ground. It’s more responsive. It’s lighter. And all of those things are benefits for LeBron as long as he was okay with the feel.
And to not sacrifice the protection we were offering him, the reason the 9 is constructed the way it is is that there’s actually an internal midsole, as well as what you see externally. Internally in the forefoot area, in the compartment where the Zoom bag is nestled, there’s actually a softer density foam that normally we couldn’t expose, because it would degrade in the elements if it got wet because the foam is so soft. So now, you’ve basically got this forefoot pod with a Zoom unit sitting in it and you’ve got your traditional midsole with the plate and with the Air bag. So it’s really actually a pretty sophisticated system in order to get lighter, lower and get that responsiveness of the Zoom Air under LeBron’s foot without sacrificing that wall to wall protection around it.
SN: With the LeBron 8, it was a pretty unprecedented move to release three completely different versions of one signature shoe. Was there talk of going a similar route with the LeBron 9 or was that a one-time thing and now it’s time to move on to something new?
JP: Well, the story with the 8, it was kind of a seasonal inspiration story that explored how the shoe could transform as you went through the year and it ended up being three shoes. We didn’t know how many it would be in the beginning. Actually it ended up being four shoes, but one of them never came out. But the idea was really to grow and change with LeBron’s body and team and his game as the season wore on, as well as to transform what the shoes were – from kinda leather based and maybe a little heavier, bulkier, more traditional construction into where we’re going now with this technical, futuristic direction. He’s leading Nike Basketball as the test-pilot, getting the newest leading edge technology on him. So it was also a transformation in that regard with the shoes.
So we told that story, and actually when we talked to LeBron about the 9, we were like Hey, do you wanna do three again? and he said Well, we already did that and it was cool and we feel it was successful, because looking back, all three shoes were great. We achieved what we wanted to and LeBron loved them all and they sold really well. So that’s the trifecta. We had no problem going back to it, but were kinda like We did that already. The story this year is about LeBron being that ultimate triple threat, and while that woulda played in well with three shoes, we’ve already kinda honed his shoes into what was the LeBron 8 PS – a super lightweight, incredibly thin, athletic responsive shoe for the playoffs. So we figured, why not start there and let that be the guide, and if it turns out that we need three shoes, then we need three shoes, but what we found was that that shoe is right in the zone and we had really engineered it and carved so much out of it that it was right at the place that we wanted it to be for the entire season. We didn’t need to change it or make it lighter, because that would have sacrificed some of the things that LeBron didn’t wanna sacrifice like flexibility or protection.
So we found that right mix and felt like we didn’t need to transform it through the regular season. Now, come playoffs, it’s a different mindset, so there are gonna be some different things for that. And that’s coming from LeBron’s insight into what he was looking for in a shoe. We kinda go every year based off what we learned in the past year, where LeBron’s mindset is at and where we wanna go in the future. So nothing’s set in stone. You might see three shoes again two years from now if that’s where it ends up. It just wasn’t necessary this season.
SN: As close as you are to the whole process, now standing back and looking at the finished LeBron 9, what wound up being your favorite thing about the shoe?
JP: I’d have to say, just actually seeing the whole shoe come together. Seeing the finished work. Because believe me, at times it looked really rough and there were people that didn’t believe along the way. And in the end, it’s built like a brick shithouse, but one that you can pick up and throw. I think we achieved the perfect balance of light and strong and it’s just satisfying to see the end of the mission, because there were a lot of battles along the way and we ended up with a shoe we can be proud of and a shoe that LeBron loves. It seems like that’s the biggest challenge.
How do you go in after the 7 and get LeBron to fall in love with another shoe again? And then after the 8, how do you get him to fall in love again? And again and again. Now we’re working on having to do that with the LeBron 10 and that’s an incredibly high bar that we set, so it feels really good to surpass that test. I just wanna see the 9 on court man! See him doing work in the shoe and just making some of those moments in the shoe. I just wanna see it put to the ultimate test out there on the NBA hardwood with LeBron doing his thing. So hopefully, we’ll get word of that happening soon.
SN: What’s something about the shoe that people haven’t heard yet that you’d like to get out there?
JP: The story of the triple threat is something that maybe not too many people have heard. When you look deeply into what it means for LeBron to be the ultimate triple threat on court, and in life through philanthropy, on-court, off-court, being a father – he has so many different traits. So we look at that notion of the triple threat and that’s why the shoe is kinda designed like an odd number almost. It’s asymmetric, you’ve got that three-pointed stability wing on the side, the asymmetry in the back and the eyerow. We just had fun with designing it with that uneven sense in mind. So for those out there that like to talk about the aesthetics, now you can get some reasoning for why some of those things look the way they do or are styled the way they are.
SN: Great stuff as always! Thanks for taking the time Jay.
JP: Anytime, thank you!
