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words // Nick DePaula:
Every shoe that a footwear designer creates will eventually be released in the future, of course.
Typically, that’ll be around 12-18 months later on, but back in 1988, Tinker Hatfield was working on a project set some 27 years in the future.
The shoe, the Nike MAG, was to be featured in the “Back To The Future 2” movie a year later in the late 80s, and it would go on to become one of the most iconic sneakers in pop culture.
“In 2015, a sneaker is still a sneaker!” Tinker playfully noted on one sketch.
“I thought about the year 2015,” Hatfield recalls. “And I had a strong opinion that shoes might be somewhat intelligent and able to turn on and become alive in the future.”
With that initial insight in mind, that shoes would incorporate power in some way, Hatfield sketched a veering, sleekened high-top sneaker with “power laces.” One sketch even featured “growing Air bags.”
Check out several of Tinker Hatfield’s original Nike MAG sketches below in our latest Sneaker Sketch of the Week, and stay tuned for more launch news tomorrow of the 2016 version of the MAG.
