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“Even with the Milan, the fourth version I mentioned; it’s an even more of an old world version. It takes place before the V1. It’s like a prequel, and then it moves on through going from leather with a little bit of tech emphasis and a big Air bag.” – Jason Petrie, Nike LeBron 8 Designer
Earlier today, we posted our in-depth 1 on 1 interview with Nike LeBron 8 Designer Jason Petrie. In addition to discussing the design process and specific differences between all three models, Petrie hinted at a fourth version of the Nike LeBron 8 series that never made it to the public eye (until now). The Nike LeBron 8 V4 “Milan”, a high-quality, dressy take on LeBron’s eighth signature model, was presumably supposed to be a prequel to this three-sneaker concept. It features a very similar build to the V1 and V2, yet it incorporates Italian, old world craftsmanship all while encompassing performance attributes such as Air Max.
Check out an additional photo of the Nike LeBron 8 V4 “Milan” below, and check out Jason Pietrie’s in-depth explanation on this never-before-seen shoe. If the Nike LeBron 8 V4 “Milan” actually made it to retailers, would you purchase it?
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Jason Petrie on the Nike LeBron 8 V4 ‘Milan’: The concept of the Nike LeBron 8 V4 ‘Milan’ is that it’s a dress shoe with technical benefits It was built in Italy using old world craftsmanship and we merged it with bleeding edge performance in Air Max. This was supposed to be something for off court and really transforming LeBron all the way from off court to champion in one year. It features incredible leathers and crafted details like pinked edges and performance dress shoe detailing. We had this built in a special factory, and it was intended to be world class, high end luxury performance for one night only with LeBron to light the flame of the Nike LeBron 8 so to speak. We didn’t do it in the end, because we had a cleaner, more succinct storyline that revolved strictly around performance. We didn’t want to cloud it with the off-court stuff. But you can imagine the transformation being that much more extreme if you transition all the way between the Milan, a high end, luxury molded leather shoe to the PS, the most up to date cutting edge composite solution we could cook up!
