story

“If I were to describe this shoe in one word, I would say friendship. Hi, I'm Erin Rivera, and I'm the Brand Content Manager at Sanrio.”

"Hello. I'm Kyle Quan, Product Line Manager, Nike Sportswear. And this is the Air Presto 'Hello Kitty®'."

"Hello Kitty® was created in 1974. She came from obviously the culture of cute."

"We feel like her profoundness as a brand really helps bridge the gap between cultures, generations. I mean, worldwide, she's a global pop icon."

"For Sanrio, we just wanted to make sure that this shoe really came out. Just because of the 2004 design that was unreleased, we really wanted to make this for the fans."

"Something the 2004 Air Presto design inspired for 2022 is what it stood for. It was the playfulness."

"It was the joy. It was the energy. And so we thoughtfully took all of that emotion, and then formed what today's could be."

"I'm Alice McDonald, and I'm a Material Designer in Footwear at Nike. My name's Seth Peterson. I'm a Color Designer in Footwear. I actually grew up between the US and Japan, and I was not too far from Sanrio Puroland."

"So it was really cool to be able to bring the elements of that world and Hello Kitty® to life on the shoe."

"So in the early 2000s when the Presto first came out, it was, first and foremost, a performance running shoe, but it had this T-shirt for your feet fit."

"And a lot of the storytelling and focus was on the character. So each of the first colorways came with its own character that told a story through the colors and graphics on each shoe."

"So I think the storytelling aspect of the shoe is really important. When you put the shoe on your foot is the moment that you really experience those little details, which is exciting..."

"...whether it's this adorable heel piece on the back, or you have this bow detail on the front. And I love the little highlighted color and pop of color on the side."

"We brought in the Hello Kitty® eyes and nose reference point. The top line that's created by the color lining being black references the illustration style of Hello Kitty®."

"You literally step into Hello Kitty®'s world when you put the shoe on. There's so much importance to a shoebox as well at Nike. So..."

"...we wanted to combine those two together and create this world. And every time you open the box, you can enter that space again. It's a very joyful shoe."

"The TLC that was put into this is really true to the Sanrio philosophy of small gift, big smile. I would say my favorite part of the shoe is that we were able to bring it into a new space."

"So we have the original idea, but we all brought something very personal into the story. I think this partnership between Sanrio and Nike..."

"...is really symbolic of the friendship that was formed when creating together and ideating together."

"Thank you for that conversation. This is Behind the Design of the Air Presto 'Hello Kitty®'. Thank you for watching."

Behind The Design: Air Presto 'Hello Kitty'