Jovani Hernandez As Jordan Brand begins to look forward to its 2024 roster of products, the Nike, Inc. subsidiary is also looking a new personnel, having recently hired Jason Mayden as its Chief Design Officer.
To the uninformed, Mayden is a Southside Chicago-native that held roles at the Swoosh conglomerate over 13 years after graduating from the College of Creative Studies in Detroit. Most recently, Mayden had been focusing on his own company’s efforts, Trillicon Valley, as well as work as a visiting lecturer at USC’s Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy. From December 2020 to December 2022, however, the industry veteran served as President of Fear of God Athletics, the adidas-backed pillar of Jerry Lorenzo’s Fear of God House. Mayden’s exit from the partnership arrived exactly one year before Lorenzo put out a single collection with the Three Stripes, leaving those in-the-know to speculate over what happened between the two.
According to interviews by Lorenzo and Mayden’s own LinkedIn profile, the main objective of the Chicagoan’s time at Fear of God Athletics was negotiating the label’s standalone nature and multi-categorial product lineup. Having spent more than a decade at Nike, Inc., beginning as the company’s first Black industrial design intern in 2001, Mayden has proven himself as a skilled mediator between business units and larger parent companies. Through Trillicon Valley, the Fine Arts major had been led on a number of creative endeavors, which he likely missed out on while working with Lorenzo. A return to Jordan Brand as Chief Design Officer, however, will surely allow him to tap into this aspect of his repertoire.
During his initial tenure with Michael Jordan’s eponymous label, Mayden worked on a number of projects – including the Air Jordan 2009 (or Air Jordan 24). As Senior Footwear Designer for the imprint, Mayden championed design with new technology. He’ll be taking over the C-Suite role from Martin Lotti, who’s now Chief Design Officer for Nike. It’s uncertain what exactly Mayden will work on in his next chapter with Team Jumpman, but he’s likely to leverage his design experience with his understanding of sports at all levels to further cement Jordan Brand’s position as a leader at the intersection of sport and fashion. Furthermore, his love for Chicago will surely inform some stories pertaining to the Air Jordan line.
For more sneaker news, check out the Air Jordan 4 “Bred Reimagined” set to launch in early 2024.
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