Erik Hernandez
Outsole drawing for the basketball knit with medial, bottom and lateral views, a herringbone traction pattern, a TPU shank and heel wrap, and section lines B to D.

Version 1

Laced knit upper over a foam-padded stretch booty.

Version 1a rendering turning through a full rotation, in navy, grey and olive knit with cream laces, a strap at the collar and a gum cupsole.
Version 1b rendering turning through a full rotation, in grey, black and olive with an orange midfoot panel and a pull loop at the collar.
Version 1 internal details, lateral, showing a no-sew stretch booty, foam tongue and heel collar, a heel pocket and U-binding with a zig-zag stitch, with section details A-A and B-B.
Version 1 internal details with 20 mm stretch gore bands across the instep and a heel lock foam pad.
Version 1 internal details with a taller collar and thumb pull hole, a foam toe pad and stretch gore bands.
The Version 1 sample, a grey knit high-top with grey laces, a black heel panel, teal accents and a gum cupsole.

Version 2

Laceless knit sock with exaggerated rubber heel wrap.

Version 2a Photoshop rendering, a navy knit sock with an adidas logo, a pale green heel tab and a gum cupsole.
Version 2a CAD drawing, lateral, with collar heights, logo placement and a gum cupsole.
Version 2 internal construction, lateral, color-coded by knit zone from a tight stretch collar rib to a non-stretch internal lining.
Version 2b Photoshop rendering in navy knit on a dark blue cupsole with a pale green heel.
Version 2b CAD drawing, lateral, on a blue-grey cupsole.
Version 2 construction details, medial, with a silicone print inside the collar rib, webbing stitched under the heel counter and the raw edge of the tooling.

Brief

Translate and revise the Yeezy design team’s Photoshop concepts, approved by Kanye West, into a knit basketball shoe that could be manufactured. The shoe had to retain a dramatic aesthetic, fit like a sock, and still lock down like a performance shoe.

Process

Version 1 paired a laced knit upper with a no-sew stretch booty inside, using foam pads at the tongue, heel, and toe, plus stretch gore bands across the instep, to hold the foot.

Version 2 dropped the laces for a knit sock zoned by stretch, featuring a tight collar rib to a non-stretch lining.

Both versions featured a sole unit that included a full length Boost midsole, midsole wraps first seen on the Yeezy 350, a TPU shank, and climbing shoe-inspired scratch rubber wraps.