story

"I'm Mimi Plange. I was born in Ghana and I'm the Creative Director of Mimi Plange."

"I'm a fashion designer that was born in Ghana. I moved to the United States when I was five years old. I grew up in Southern California, just kind of really being surrounded by a lot of movies and theaters and the arts."

"From a really young age, I always knew that I wanted to be a fashion designer. One thing that kind of struck me about fashion was just being able to tell a story through clothing and looking at clothing is like a type of language."

"I kind of started out really taking all the steps that it kind of takes to be a designer. I was assistant designer. I started out as a merchandiser at a jewelry company. Just being able to travel and work with all the different departments that kind of bring fashion together..."

"...I just decided that I had learned enough and kind of had garnered enough attention that I would take the leap and start my own brand. I think we approached design in a very unconventional way. I look at the human body."

"When I would see things that were inspired by the content of Africa, they always kind of focused on the prints or they focused on beading and embroidery. I wanted to tell a different type of story. So I started looking at bodies, body painting, body modifications, and piercings."

"That's kind of where the whole foundation of the design began. I hope that we shed light upon Africa in a different kind of sense of melding it and mixing it with the West. One thing about Nike is that it's such an inspirational brand."

"There's not any one identity that has to conform to like the look of Nike. Nike really kind of addresses and kind of appeals to a lot of different people. When I first sat down to design..."

"...I really just began by trying to see, how can I do something beyond just changing the colors? I didn't want to just change colors or move things around. I wanted to do something that was a little bit more thoughtful and I wanted to do something that kind of like..."

"...almost resembled a new item. This is a shoe that I felt embodied education. It embodied LeBron's spirit and it kind of melded this whole idea of like school and sport. Just really being able to see how..."

"...we can make something that was so performative, so technical and also make it something that had a lightness that can go into the street."

"I think the parts of this shoe that stand out the most to me is just the combination of using this skin detailing, which is very light and kind of looks like paint."

"I just never really saw like a shoe that kind of had these elements that kind of mimic like real fabric piecing. There's so many things. There's the wool. There's sheer ripstop then there's the skin. Then there's all these different little..."

"...vegan leather applications as well. It's pretty awesome. I think that what this collaboration means to me as a designer, first of all, I mean, I have to thank the Nike team, because it was so amazing to work with everyone."

"Nike has always been one to notice different identities throughout the world. I think that all of this has just really pushed us to keep going. I think the fact that we were able to..."

"...design these shoes and it was our first ever sneaker design. I mean, we had never done sneakers before and we ended up doing four sketches and all four sketches ended up being celebrated..."

"...and are actually going to be coming down the pipeline very soon. I think it's amazing. I don't think that I could have gotten such an awesome opportunity from any other space besides Nike, which was actually..."

"...one of the brands that I've always wanted to collaborate with. Being a designer, it's kind of tough. Everybody will tell you it's really difficult to get into design."

"It doesn't stop at just what you design. Just being able to meet a lot of different people and being open to different people and listening to other people's stories and finding a way to address their needs. I think once you can understand that, you'll win."

Behind The Design: LeBron XVIII Low x Mimi Plange

Behind the Design

LeBron XVIII Low x Mimi Plange