CARISSA'S AIR JORDAN XII
BEHIND THE DESIGN
Doernbecher Freestyle patient designer Carissa Navarro has fuzzy in her soul. Her Nike design team, comprised of Footwear Developer Rachel Nichols, Material Designer Leah Nagengast, Sr. Product Line Manager Garren Strong, Apparel Developer Kelsie Hood, Apparel Developer Alyssa Foo, Color Designer Kelsey Amy and Graphic Designer Brenden Strang, used that insight to help bring to life Carissa’s distinct vision for the Air Jordan XII and accompanying apparel, which is full of personal details.
“From the start, she wanted a really fuzzy shoe, and we ended up using a soft suede on the upper offset with a polka dot pattern,” says Leah. “The materials and color teams did a great job bringing her vision to life,” says Garren. “We went from a truly fuzzy suede to a more velvet-like suede throughout the process." Leah reveals they also did an embroidered stitch on the rib lines to bring something extra special to the shoe, which is a first for an Air Jordan XII.
“Our biggest emphasis was on getting every detail she wanted in the best way we could, which is where the heel elements and pizza deubres came from – we incorporated what she loves while staying true to the elements of the shoe,” says Garren.
“When we first met with Carissa," adds Brenden, "when we got to the fuzzy options, her eyes lit up and that became the element that connected everything together from the footwear to the apparel. She came up with every piece of it, which was the best part of it.” That's how the team landed on the unique fuzzy laces found on the shoe as well. “We wanted to not only reference her love for fuzz in verbiage on the apparel, but also in the materials themselves,” says Alyssa.
“The new takes on some of the parts of the shoe, like what Kelsey developed with the marbled outsole, is a big inspiration for me going forward,” says Garren. “We ended up opening new molds for the Preschool version of the Air Jordan XII as part of this process to facilitate creating her size and her sister's size,” adds Rachel. One of the most uniques aspects of Carissa's collection is a second blue iteration of the shoe made just for her sister, with whom she shares a very special bond. “Carissa’s story is very unique; she survived in the womb because of her twin sister Savannah. Her sister is obsessed with blue and with pugs, so we wanted to honor her with a version of the shoe that featured those things,” says Rachel.
