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words & photography // Nick DePaula
For every shoe, the tooling part — the combination of the midsole and outsole platform — can often take the longest to engineer. There’s an insane amount of design refinements, weartesting and material molding and contouring that goes into the process before getting the setup just right.
With inspiration directly from KD’s sabertooth tattoo and a direct request for a full-length Zoom Air unit, Nike Basketball Design Director Leo Chang worked in tandem with the development team to bring the KD 8’s tooling to life.
Check out the KD 8’s sabertooth-inspired footbucket and Zoom Air platform below in detail.
To read all about the full design and development process of Kevin Durant’s newest shoe, plus a look at several early round samples, be sure to check out our exclusive in-depth interview with designer Leo Chang.
