Nike officially unveiled the collaboration between LeBron James and menswear designer John Elliott, which is headlined by the ICON QS. The sneaker, which incorporates elements from the Nike LeBron 8, is set to release along with the collection on Saturday, Aug. 4.
That release date applies to North America, Japan, Southeast Asia, Australia and Brasil. Subsequent launches are scheduled for Aug. 25 in China and Sept. 1 in Europe, respectively.
“My first opportunity to meet LeBron, at an afterparty in L.A. in 2014, I was overwhelmed by the scale of him as an athlete; I couldn’t believe we were making clothes for him,” Elliott said in a released statement.
“Now, we were able to use Nike expertise to take the elements of our brand that he was most attracted to, and think about them in a way that was built for him.”
James and Elliott first connected in 2014, which was two years after the John Elliott launched. “I got a call kind of out of the blue from someone who was saying they were LeBron’s stylist,” Elliott recalled.
“At the time, the brand was still small. We were operating out of, like, literally a satellite room in a warehouse in Vernon, California, which is basically the armpit of L.A. We were just scrapping to get by.”
The look and feel of the latest collection is that of versatility and functionality to match James’ style on the court and fashion sense off it. The LeBron James x John Elliott Icon QS is the brainchild of all parties involved.
The white and transparent upper includes detailing and stitching that’s often found on another piece of footwear. “The idea for the sock — that was LeBron’s idea,” Elliott explained.
“It’s a great story to tell, because it really hammers home my whole ethos as a designer, which is all about creating a layered look. When LeBron came up with the sock, it really completed the collection,” says Elliott. “In the end, I really learned from him.
“There are three forces at work — the John Elliott brand connects to Nike and the LeBron brand connects to Nike. Nike gives both an opportunity to explore, to employ a huge range of solutions and to make sure that you’re solving for problems. Although our brand is able to innovate in various textiles, with Nike we have a whole new set of options.”
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