As stated in our recent post, Jordan Brand officially unveiled the Air Jordan 2011 earlier today. In addition to capturing detailed photos of this shoe, we sat down with Air Jordan 2011 co-designer Tom Luedecke to talk about Jordan Brands’ newly-developed product.

Luedecke discussed the origin of the Air Jordan 2011, Michael Jordan’s impact on this new model, the significance of specific details and upcoming projects involving the Air Jordan 2011. He also touched on Dwyane Wade’s initial response to this shoe. Check out our in-depth interview with Tom Luedecke on the Air Jordan 2011 below.

?

?

Nice Kicks: Let’s start off with the direction you went with the Air Jordan 2011. How does it differ from every other model in the signature line, especially the last two (Air Jordan 2010, Air Jordan 2009)?

Tom Luedecke: From an art and science standpoint, the Air Jordan 2011 is all about the modularity piece underfoot. Specifically, being able to choose your ride. Whether it’s air technology in the softer foam underfoot or a firmer foam in the Zoom Technology under your foot. It’s two different foams and two different sockliners. So, that is really what’s different about the Air Jordan 2011 and what started us on this path.

Nice Kicks: So, what is the significance of these two interchangeable midsoles and how are they different? How does each cater to the specific needs of a player?

Tom Luedecke: Everything is dramatically different between the two soles. The carrier foam (blue sole) is firmer, and the red sole has softer foam. So with the response of side-to-side cutting, you would need a firmer footbed and under the basket, you would need the red, softer foam. So, the blue sole is more of a horizontal game and the red is for a vertical game. Besides the foam, the Air Technology is different between the two. The Zoom (blue) is for response, cutting and quick reaction, while the Cushlon midsole (red) is for protection, not necessarily when jumping up, but for protection when landing. It really was about providing distinct differences, and for basketball, we wanted to push the envelope out to the extreme. Usually, you see two different products for those two types of players. Well, the nice thing about Jordan Brand is we are versatile. We wanted to give the player options in one sneaker: either playing in the paint or on the perimeter. We’re actually serving a shoe that can do both extremely well. We know guys like Dwyane Wade or extremely versatile/hybrid players. You can’t pin them down into just one position. He might be a different player from the first three quarters to the last quarter. A good player, nowadays in the NBA, is able to switch positions in order to address the opponent that they’re matching up against.

Nice Kicks: As with other signature Jordan Brand models, we assume Michael Jordan played a big part in this shoe’s creation? What stage were you in design-wise before incorporating MJ into the development?

Tom Luedecke: The inspiration expression came out of conversations with Michael. We sat down with MJ and showed him a really raw expression of that concept. We basically said there’s going to be a shell, there’s going to be a comfort bootie that goes inside of that and there’s going to be a midsole that’s going to be replaceable and modular with traction underneath.

Nice Kicks: How receptive was MJ of the design, particularly of the interchangeable midsoles seeing that this is very new and unheard of in sneakers?

Tom Luedecke: As Michael saw this concept, his wheels starting to turn and he began nodding and digesting it. Then he said, ‘Yeah I like it. It’s like a warrior getting ready for battle.” He saw it as like when you’re at home, I might be playing in one midsole, and when I’m playing away or going onto somebody else’s turf, I might need a different strategy or different game. Therefore, I need a different midsole. Or if you’re closing a game in the fourth quarter, especially with the hybrid, more versatile players like MJ was, you might stay on the perimeter for the first three quarters using cutting skills and playing fast. For the fourth quarter you’re going in, you’re under the basket, maybe going up for a rebounds or blocks, you might want to drop in a different cushioning system to allow you to do that better. So, he continued to liken it to a warrior choosing his weapons for battle. Before we talked to him, it was a technology concept, but after talking to MJ we wanted to express this home/away warrior that Mike was talking about in regards to defending your home turf and going to somebody’s turf and trying to take over.

? “We wanted to give the player an option in one sneaker: playing in the paint or on the perimeter. We’re actually serving a shoe that can do both extremely well. We know guys like Dwyane Wade are versatile players…He might be a different player from the first three quarters to the last quarter.” – Tom Luedecke

?

?

?

Nice Kicks: So, as you and the rest of the design team walked away from that meeting with MJ, how much of an impact did his thoughts have on the following design sessions?

Tom Luedecke: That conversation really started to drive the aesthetics of the shoe on the upper. So, just like a gladiator would strap up with all of these leather belts and so forth, that really drove the story there. Avatar was a movie that just hit the box office when we were creating this sneaker, so we also looked at the expression of warrior through that lens. On the other hand, we wanted to keep the Air Jordan 2011 looking really sophisticated and clean. There are three elements in play: the technology, a really clean, sophisticated design driven by Tinker and sort of a warrior expression on the upper. It has beautiful dress shoe quality leather. This is one of those things only Jordan Brand can do. The attention-to-detail in every part of the shoe really takes it over the top.

To read page 2 of the interview click here.