At Yeezy, I served as lead designer and engineer for sneakers, contributing as the Design Director, where I shaped the brand’s innovative and iconic aesthetic. My work spanned multiple aspects of product design, engineering development, and team leadership,
solidifying Yeezy's reputation as a leader in highfashion and streetwear. Key projects include full design and engineering of the 350 v2 as well as engineering of the 750, 350
v1 and WaveRunner.
The early days of the partnership between Kanye West and Adidas were fractured with
respect to product creation so I was asked by a friend to assist. A trip to Paris turned into
a monthly commute to LA for design and quarterly trips to Asia for development.
Engineering existing product, designing the evolution of those products and setting up a
working infrastructure between Yeezy and Adidas was the focus for the first 18 months.
The core product needed refining before launch so we focused on elevating all of the
concepts to debut for YZY Season 1.
Building product for shows and subsequent sales and production was tailored toward
Kanye's tour schedule with a focus on creating a halo around the brand before becoming
another sneaker collaboration.
Working through each show was a new experience because the runway was not
something I'd given any thought to prior. From models to staging to lights to fit on a
schedule that had us sleeping where ever we could find a flat surface. This was not just
fashion week. This included concerts and launches. We were always on.
While all of this was going on I worked with one developer from Adidas to build the
second generation of product while still evolving the first generation because "it could
always be better".
This is where the steady diet of trips to Asia became necessary to keep up with the
expected output of samples to test with different lasts, molds, materials and structures.
The most important aspect to all of Yeezy was perfecting the shape for production.
creating lasts that were both comfortable and fashion forward were core to the success of
the brand.
Developing materials that worked with the unique shapes became an engineering
challenge as we combined knits, suedes and TPU in complex ways to achieve layering
and depth that contrasted with the commercial product available from competitors in the
market.
Along the way the factory needed to learn to operate in a less transactional development
process. More experimentation and understanding of concepts instead of following
sketches and drawings to the millimeter.
We constantly developed and redeveloped all of the styles simultaneously.
The process of oversampling is taxing to those that have never worked along a formula
based on building product to be tested not sold. Innovation team are use to the burn rate
but production facilities have trouble converting. The team at Apache learned to be
flexible and provide ideas instead of waiting for the answers.
These concepts previewed a brand ready to leap into the next generation of product
without compromise. The team was prepared for building performance product in
categories like Running and Basketball but lost its way as tensions between Kanye and
Adidas escalated.
Those early days were more calm for me than others around the process. I was shielded
because I was neither a Yeezy employee nor an Adidas employee. I had the freedom to
choose how to experience the work and when to leave, but I'll never forget the good days
that taught me how to wear more hats at one time.
Easily my favorite unboxing ever.