The very best signature sneakers personify the participant. They’re an extension of the fashion and vibe that their namesake stands for.
In response to James Harden, his Adidas signature collection is perhaps the most effective expression of that method within the business.
“Proper whenever you see it, it’s like, ‘Oh wow, what’s that?’ After which you understand: ‘That’s the Harden. That’s a Quantity,‘” Harden proudly says. “We received our personal fashion and our personal swag.”
Ever since Harden first landed his landmark 13-year signature take care of Adidas in 2015, the thought was to create chapters and volumes of signature sneakers that’d bridge the on-court with the off-court because the collection advanced. They’re now on the ninth version — formally dubbed the Harden Vol. 9 — with the collection shifting through the years.
The debut Vol. 1 was recent out the gate, with its slanted leather-based or suede toe cap and distinctive look. The fashions thereafter had been admittedly up and down at instances. When designer Jalal Enayah took over the reigns again in 2019, each he and Harden seemed to refresh the road as they labored collectively on the 7 and past. They needed to map out a brand new manner for the designer-plus-athlete mannequin to work.
“He mentioned, ‘I can reply all the identical questions time and again, however that’s not going to let you understand who I’m,’” recalled Enayah. “He was all about, ‘If you wish to know who I actually am, come spend time with me and my associates.’”
“Come hang around with me, see who I’m, and what I like,” Harden remembers telling the designer.
The product because the Vol. 7 has infused an elevated fashion that matches James’ world, past the court docket. The design workforce tries to choose up on the aura of the vehicles he drives, the issues he buys and the locations he visits.
For instance, Harden wears a duo of matching diamond chains nearly always, each that includes an iced pendant studying “UNO.”
The nod to his present jersey quantity has change into a nickname amongst his shut associates, however the acronym additionally stands for his assured mantra:
Underneath No One
“The sneakers actually stand for our character as a model — which is to be assured,” provides Enayah. “We need to be assured in who we’re and uniquely us. James is the catalyst for that. We didn’t need to make product that seemed scared or protected.”
A Board of Administrators member and fairness associate in Saks, Harden’s orbit is endlessly excessive finish. Whether or not that’s being laced in Louis, toting Bottega baggage or placing it on in all Prada, there’s an entry and style degree that Harden has change into accustomed to, that’s now additionally making its manner into his Adidas product.
“We work with James like he’s a artistic, somewhat only a muse,” described the designer. All the pieces from the silhouette to the largely two-tone coloration palette has to suit Harden’s vibe across the clock.
When Harden was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers forward of final season, the method turned that a lot simpler. The LA native welcomed the close by DTLA-based Adidas workforce into all sides of his life, wherever and at any time when that could be.
“I’ve talked to him about sneakers within the membership,” jokes Enayah. “I’ve pulled up on him on one in all his holidays. Submit recreation within the tunnels, we’ve had some actually nice conferences too.”
With much less scheduled assembly construction and slotted agenda instances comes extra trustworthy response and enter, all of them agreed. Harden additionally likes listening to his associates’ suggestions and reactions on the fly.
Enayah even remembers getting a textual content to indicate as much as a LA lounge at 1 AM as soon as. He grabbed some samples and was on his manner.
“I pulled up with a bag of sneakers and begged them to let me in with them,” he now laughs.
For so long as signature sneakers have been the business format for a way a basketball star may showcase their footwear and model partnerships, gamers have mentioned they needed their sneaker to “look good on and off the court docket.”
As everyone knows, that’s been a tough premise at instances, with some sneakers merely standing as gear to hoop in, and others falling wanting each targets.
Harden has seemed to vary that.
“The factor is, this is a basketball shoe, but it surely’s a style shoe as effectively,” he described. “We’re taking it international and it’s meant for that. We’re doing an unbelievable job of getting a steadiness.”
One of many first components of constructing a shoe that may work each on and off court docket is dialing within the efficiency. For the reason that Vol. 7, there’s been a formulation rooted within the pillars of consolation, traction, assist and daring blocking that has come to outline the latter seems of the road.
“There’s plenty of gamers that the Harden shoe wouldn’t make sense for,” Enayah says, chatting with the massive image method. “If you see it on his ft, you immediately perceive that that is an expression of him and him pushing the boundaries.”
The 7 had the swooping black across the heel and the pops of coloration by way of the quilted higher. The clear toe introduced a sophistication that made it wearable. The 8 was much more daring, with a clear toe and knit collar returning, but a dramatic oval form alongside the aspect that was unmistakable from a mile away.
With the Vol. 9, the shoe incorporates that very same sleekness and knit collar, with extra branding added in, in a refined manner. Because the workforce dissected the 7 and eight, they felt they might make it each lighter and produce in additional breathability.
The most recent shoe incorporates a mixture of Lightstrike and Increase foam for a cushioning platform that sits a little bit decrease. The stripes alongside the aspect turned a two-fold remedy to not solely add branding, but in addition enhance the efficiency.
“We checked out supercars and the way they ventilate their tires and breaks. That was the primary focus,” begins Enayah. “We checked out some previous Adidas ClimaCool stuff and drew some inspiration from that. The Three Stripes turned extra of a gestural method. That was completely different for the Harden line, however nonetheless mixes it up.”
Visually, it labored. The shoe retained the sleekness and talent to boldly carry coloration and metallics to the mannequin, whereas additionally giving the silhouette a brand new stance and a decrease profile.
“If in case you have James, that opens up your prospects and what you may get away with having a basketball shoe appear like,” added the designer.
On the court docket, it additionally labored. To shut the common season, Harden was named Participant of the Week for the Western Convention. It was the primary time he was named POTY since February of 2021 — two groups in the past with the Brooklyn Nets.
This yr was additionally the primary time he made the All-Star Recreation because the 2021-22 season. He wore sixteen colours of the Harden Vol. 9 since January, continuously bringing visibility to his latest shoe because the Clippers made their push to the postseason. He’ll seem within the NBA playoffs this weekend for a sixteenth consecutive time — each season of his profession.
“Jalal will get plenty of credit score for it, after which clearly, me taking part in higher, that provides to it,” mentioned Harden. “The mix of each of these issues go into why we’re now doing what we’re doing.”
For the month of March, the Harden Vol. 9 turned a high ten most-worn sneaker throughout the complete NBA, in accordance with KixStats.com.
“We needed to make it a greater hoop shoe that every one gamers would play in. You’ll see James, Zu and Bogdan all sporting it — three very completely different gamers,” added Enayah. “We needed to make it a positionless shoe. That’s change into a cliche time period, but it surely actually is what the NBA is now.”
Amongst the greater than two dozen gamers to lace them up within the NBA, together with a number of schools to obtain their very own school-specific colorways, rising gamers like Lu Dort and Jalen Williams have additionally every debuted their very own participant unique editions of the mannequin.
“That’s the entire level — to increase,” Harden says, matter of factly. “Whether or not it’s JDub or Lu, we received a pair different guys underneath the radar that we need to get into the Vol. 9 too.”
Most signature sneakers comply with a little bit of the same formulation on the subject of debuting every colorway. All through this season, Harden has opted to unveil most of his Hardens in probably the most grand manner potential, as maybe solely he may.
With the assistance of Highway Present Worldwide in Atlanta, he wrapped a handful of luxurious sportscars in comparable “V9” seems, and pulled as much as his video games with the syncing sneakers on. The hearth ride-along footage absolutely introduced his followers additional into his world.
“He gave us all of the ammo we would have liked,” mentioned Enayah. “The stress was on us to ship one thing that matched his aura.”
First was the anthracite smoke Ferrari with purple accents that matched the “Cyber Metallic” launch colorway. Extra not too long ago, he arrived in a black and purple Dodge Hellcat for the Clippers dwelling finale in LA. When he pulled as much as a street recreation in Atlanta in a clear inexperienced Maserati on a Friday night time, Harden shut issues down in actual time.
The picture of a leather-laden Harden posing in entrance of the 4 Seasons generated tens of hundreds of thousands of impressions. My tweet alone received greater than 4,000 RTs and almost 2 million views. In fact, there have been the haters that he’s used to, however even they couldn’t nonetheless deny the vibe.
The sportscar stunt was pure classic Harden. The feedback had been infinite:
“May be high 3 flex I seen my complete life”
“Convey again this degree of flexing”
“We’re considering exterior the field,” Harden beamed. “It’s killer.”
Because the designer sees it, the supercar-inspired-sneaker coming to life with linking wrapped vehicles solely made sense, and made for a “full circle second” that the bigger workforce at Adidas all helped to create.
“We make the silhouette, however the advertising and marketing workforce actually carries the shoe and tells the story,” mentioned Enayah. “That’s James and that’s what he needs to do. He likes to do issues which can be scary and get individuals excited another way.”
“It is smart,” says Harden. “That is who I’m. It’s genuine. It’s pure. We’re not forcing something.”
Once we caught up final month in LA on the Adidas flagship retailer in West Hollywood, Harden was at it once more, arriving in a matte white Rolls Royce with lime inexperienced accents that matched the “Pearlized” Vol. 9s on his ft. The grill and wheels even had customized particulars studying “UNO” and “V9.”
The showroom he walked into was a full Harden takeover, with dozens of future and unique editions of the Vol. 9 on show. The small print included every thing all the way down to the drinks available, as traditional and strawberry margarita choices included “The UNO” and “The Step Again,” whereas three varietals from his J-Harden Wines label had been additionally being poured for visitors.
Because the night time carried on, his newest sneaker was on grand show alongside three rows of the again room. Every row learn a key phrase, describing each Harden and his latest creation with Adidas:
Unconventional
Unmistakable
Unapologetic
Every of these descriptors not solely encapsulates Harden’s method through the years, however have additionally come to outline the design of his collection.
“Him giving us that entry to his life actually sparked the arrogance to take greater dangers with the sneakers, described Enayah. “We introduced one thing to him that made us uncomfortable, and when he responded positively, that gave us the arrogance to maintain pushing.”
For the reason that Vol. 7, one of many largest variations that the workforce at Adidas has observed will not be solely Harden’s enter alongside the way in which, however his pleasure to submit and spotlight his newest sneakers. It’s one thing basketball followers have picked up on too.
Harden is without doubt one of the high ten most-followed NBA gamers on Instagram with greater than 12 million followers. His feed has change into an ongoing showcase of the brand new Vol. 9, flooded with on-court photographs, video content material and model posts continuously highlighting the shoe.
“It solely works if the athlete connects with the shoe and it appears like an extension of them,” admits Enayah. “Whether it is, you may see how they imagine within the shoe, submit it and are proud to put on it.”
In a panorama that now options extra signature sneakers than ever earlier than — an NBA file 28 gamers wore their very own signature shoe this season — Harden is aware of he must go above and past, on and off the court docket, to ensure that his shoe to interrupt by way of.
“If you consider what number of collection are at 1, 2, 3 or at 12, 15 or 17,” he begins. “What can we do this they haven’t carried out? You gotta discover methods to separate your self.”
As he moved by way of the Melrose Avenue showroom of Adidas’ personal social gathering, Harden veered in the direction of the center of the house, the place a lineage of his line was laid out on show.
Every of his 9 fashions appeared so as, with adjoining imagery taking him down reminiscence lane of the moments that he connects to every shoe.
“There’s plenty of 40s and 50s and 60 level video games in plenty of these sneakers. We created that. That’s tight,” he mirrored. “It’s only a completely different feeling. I can’t even ask guys [how that feels]. There’s solely a handful of men proper now that may perceive what that appears like. It’s a blessing, it’s a testomony to the work that I put in and to the workforce that I’ve round me.”
Already, the workforce is engaged on each the Adidas Harden Vol. 10 and Vol. 11 fashions for future seasons. This fall, Harden will change into simply the twelfth participant in NBA historical past to launch ten consecutive signature sneakers with the identical model whereas taking part in.
“We’ve received our groove now,” he says proudly. “I received my swag that we’re capable of match, and we all know that persons are truly going to love, as effectively.”
With a myriad of strikes within the enterprise world off the court docket, Harden has amassed one of many largest portfolios of brand name offers, investments and partnerships of any athlete. Now 35, he’s leaning on that have as he maps out his long-term prospects even after his Corridor of Fame profession.
“I’m very clever. I’m very good. I do know the wave and I’m the wave,” Harden continued. “Serving to the model, for so long as I can [is the goal.] It’s a partnership collectively.”
Now a decade faraway from signing the preliminary 13-year deal again in 2015, Harden is already occupied with the following stage of including to what he’s created with Adidas up to now.
“My complete factor is, a lifetime take care of Adidas,” Harden mentioned. “Let’s construct a legacy and proceed to do that factor, even once I’m not taking part in basketball.”
