Nike Talks With atmos Designer Hirofumi Kojima About The Upcoming atmos Nike/Jordan Pack

It’s been three decades since Tinker Hatfield brought the concept of visible air to fruition, and while the Air Max 1 and Jordan 3 were initially created as performance models, both silhouettes have been lifestyle staples and some of the most sought after retros in the Swoosh’s catalog ever since hitting retail shelves. Tokyo’s atmos knew this and was one of the first boutiques to collaborate with the famed 1987 model, the stand out of course being the 2007 atmos x Nike Air Max 1 “Elephant Print”. atmos designer Hirofumi Kojima combined the iconic Elephant Print from the Air Jordan 3 with its visible air predecessor for one of the most memorable collaborative efforts ever, and now the retro is coming back both in OG form and as part of the special edition Jordan Max atmos Pack on March 18th, 2017 in celebration of Air Max Day.

Nike News sat down with Hirofumi to talk his design process and how exactly the iconic atmos x Nike Air Max 1 “Elephant Print” came to be. Surprisingly enough, the 2007 release wasn’t initially inspired from the Air Jordan 3, but was instead seen as an opportunity to put animal prints back in style after seeing some vintage ‘Nike kids’ with zebra printed shoes. Kojima says: “I remember talking with the people in Nike Japan, who were involved in the project, about creating something crazy and stupid that would give impact to the market. We happened to find a pair of vintage Nike kids shoe with zebra print, and we decided to create shoes with animal prints under the concept of zoo.”

Hirofumi also drops some gems including how he wishes that the Jade colored Swoosh would have been created in a premium leather instead of the contrasting patent leather. We also have an update regarding the release date of the coming atmos Jordan 3: as it will be releasing on March 18th, 2017 at select global retailers (stay tuned for a coming ‘Where To Buy’ post in the near future). Check out the full interview with the atmos designer over on Nike News, and be sure to check out more of the official images below. For more on the coming atmos Nike/Jordan Pack, check out our own exclusive image set featuring some beauty shots here.

Source: Nike News