REEBOK IVERSONICS, lo-fi basketball shoe design process: part 2 - initial research work

Everyone knows about Allen Iverson. I’ve witnessed his career, I saw the Amazon Prime documentary and countless videos, I’ve clear in my mind his sneaker legacy…so you would guess I’m pretty much ready to start designing his new shoes.

Unfortunately, this is not how it works for me.

The research phase is maybe the most important in my design process.

Wheter I’m designing for a well known subject or not, I always try to execute this phase as seriously as I can because it sets up all the following work, it helps to find new perspectives on the subject, it connects you with the subject and it’s always a personal and professional enrichment that will be carried over for the future.

Also note that research work it’s not just limited at the start of the process, but, usually, I need to come back and forth to it at need, to solve problems, to add depth, make changes and basically whenever it’s necessary to improve, even by a small bit, the final result.

Needless to say that I always enjoy this phase a lot!

Being this one a lo-fi personal project, I’ve focused my initial research work on just three main Allen Iverson’s themes: oncourt style, offcourt style, sneaker legacy.

Let’s have a look into each one of them.

On court style

Allen Iverson on court pictures

At just 178 cm (5'11”) of height, Allen Iverson has been one of the most incredible athletes in NBA history. Thanks to his long legs and arms, his quickness and his jumping ability he was unstoppable on one on one actions and he constantly attacked the basket with no fear for big men, often finishing with feather touch, elegant, floaters.

His moves were fluid, dynamic and unpredictable, especially his trademark crossover dribble, thank to which he caught bodies in the league for years!

His figure on the court also made history, the flashy style and the speed were matched by his unique look that set the standard for the next couple of generations of basketball players across the world.

Off court style

Iverson’s style off court

“Rappers wanna be ballers and ballers wanna be rappers”, I guess it all started in Allen Iverson’s era…his impact on players off court style was as big as his impact on court. He brought the street syle to the NBA, tattoos, baggy pants, hoodies, timberlands and bling bling jewelry, most of players started to follow his example.

The league was so scared about this dramatic change that, in 2005, commissioner David Stern put in place specific rules to restrict how player had to dress both on court and off court, pre and post game. The NBA dress code gradually relaxed in the last decade, allowing more freedom for players to express their personal style, according to current fashion trends.

Sneaker legacy

A few selected details of Iverson’s signature shoes. Images of og pairs have been taken from FuManShoe instagram account

Studying and analyzing Iverson's signature line the recurring elements that I've decided to take inspiration from for this new project are the toe cap, always a distinctive detail since the Question, where it was the most visible color blocking portion, the lace cover, a repeated feature of some of his most dynamic looking models, and a few details such as the heel portion of the Answer 4, the stance of the Answer 8 and the iconic midsole design of the Question.

Another interesting thing to note is the ankle collar which is, in most models, a mid cut height with front portion a bit taller than the heel part.

Allen Iverson’s heritage in terms of performance, ackowledgements, style and game culture, is incredible rich and extensive, a tremendous base for this project!

If you are interested to see how this research will be carried over in the final design, stay tuned for part 3!