John Kim 
Of the lengthy sneaker-design process, the Wear-Test stage is a make-or-break affair; it doesn’t matter if the shoe looks amazing – if it doesn’t perform to the standards of the athlete, it’s back to the drawing board for the design crew. Of course, a lot of elements from a sneaker’s predecessor is carried on, but when looking at the progress of Kobe V to VI, the most notable change is the enlarged heel-cup – perhaps Kobe needed a bit more stability in that area for when he makes his daring cuts sand drives to the hoop. This Wear-Test sample of the Nike Zoom Kobe VI shows the sneaker free of any structural support – just the snake-skin TPU shell and the stencil-pained Swoosh on the upper, and the a solid one-piece midsole without the design ridges and the heel Zoom chamber. With the minimalistic appeal of this sample, the Kobe VI almost looks like a funky lifestyle shoe rather than one that was made on court, but credit Eric Avar for bringing street style and basketball sense into one cohesive unit. A gallery awaits you below, so take a look and cop this sample now from identitiesrevealed on eBay.
