In celebration of the Air Jordan 11 ’Gratitude’ we teamed up with Brand Jordan and enlisted the skills of Community member Allan aka @kwoky_ to re-imagine the AJ11 in his slick graphic style. Being the season of giving and gratitude, we also offered the Community, a chance to design their own AJ11 using ‘Gratitude’ as the concept.
Creativity is something which really resonates with the Offspring Community, so big up to all the entries. After some strong deliberation up at HQ, we narrowed it down to our favourite designs and then handed the big decision over to @kwoky_. The winner will receive a special prize from Brand Jordan & Offspring.
THE WINNER
“The winner for me has to be Stephen Adams (below). The level of detail and storytelling from the shoe design, box design, tissue paper, hangtag and ‘Pay it Fwd’ campaign, is a complete 360 concept that lives and breathes Gratitude.”
“From loving the planet and respecting mother nature through to showing love in our communities. Stei’s design goes beyond the physical product and into creating a movement with a QR code activation to a ‘Pay it Fwd’ campaign, that brings positivity to a world that is in serious need of it.
Congrats @Stei on a well thought out multi-level concept that is complex and inspiring! A reminder to us all to be kind and grateful in our lives.”
STEPHEN ADAMS
@stei
My AJ11 concept is based upon my gratitude for the planet we live on.
Sole_ Made from Nike Grind, in a colour which represents the Earth’s bedrock and strong foundation.
Midsole_ Uses blue splatter detailing as a nod to past Jordan greats and overspill of the design from the panel above.
Heel Counter / Mudguard_ This panel is representative of the ocean, from its dark depths to the first formation of land. A floral design is incorporated to reflect the Earth’s vibrancy and diversity. The whole panel is made from patent leather to reflect the gloss of the ocean.
Upper_ Predominantly tumbled white leather with a stitched white (international colour for peace) Jumpman.
Heel Tab_ Hairy green suede to reflect the Earth’s land. International symbol for gratitude emblazoned on the rear.
Laces / Lace Straps_ Made from recycled cotton and a subtle light pink as a nod to ‘Mother Nature’.
Hangtag_ The hangtag presents the core message of the design – spread positivity, kindness and gratefulness within the community and beyond. How it works:
– Scan the QR Code
– Log your act of kindness on dedicated website
– Complete your act of kindness
– Pass on the hangtag to the recipient
– Repeat the process
The dedicated website can then be used as a ‘Living Wall’ of positivity within the community and used for other marketing purposes going forwards.
A big S/O again to all the Community entries for our AJ11 competition. Check out the shortlist of creative concepts, which impressed us below.
CHARLES DE GUZMAN
‘Gratitude’ as the concept, made me think of a lot of things I appreciate, or I am appreciated for. There are several things that I’m sure everyone can say they are grateful for – families, friends, experiences, opportunities etc. But the one thing that I know we are all thankful for deep down but never show or say it, is the planet we live on, Earth.
Presenting the Air Jordan 11 – Beginnings ‘Earth’. My design represents our planet and its ‘natural’ state and essence. It is not meant to be perfect or have matching coordinating colours. Like Earth, it is abundant of colours everywhere and anywhere. The beauty is in its complexity.
All the packaging for my J11 will of course be made from recycled material.
LILIA KHETIYA (AGE 7)
& Dad (@choowkyk86)
The colour scheme on Lilia’s J11 design takes inspiration from the plant purple hydrangeas, as they’re commonly given as a gesture to give thanks or understanding. The purple to blue is meant to be like a Lorenz.og gradient colour scheme and Lils did her best to blend them, signifying the hydrangeas pretty colours.
The design also features a contrasting black midsole with white on the top as a nod to the Concorde 11’s which were her first pair of J’s. The outer sole is an icy blue with purple accents to tie the shoe all together. If Lils had the chance, the box would be crazy with flowers of pink, purple and blue, and have some cool tie die laces to match.
“Designing something like this takes so much thought and creativity. All the shoes you have must take so much time to make and think up of the design.”
Lilia
ERVINE JAIE DIAZ
This shoe design represents my roots back home in the Philippines (PH) where basketball culture is part of our lives. I chose various tones of dark grey, frosty grey, black sting ray texture and cream suede upper to symbolise concrete on the streets, since it’s the only flat surface we can afford to play on. I substituted the traditional wavy pattern of the bottom grips with a pattern of a ground topographical map and three stars from our flag.
The graphics within the “11” represent community through basketball in my country. It is such a big part of us and thankful for the passion that motivates us to play anywhere, most typically after church where we show gratitude as a family every Sunday.
Quite simply, I wanted to keep the design slick and unique to my own gratitude for my Filipino roots.
JON SMALLBONES
My design took inspiration from the original by Tinker Hatfield with a refreshing twist, using a breathable knitted fabric upper alongside premium Burgundy nubuck, gold embroidery on the heel and an aged sail outsole. Goes without saying that these should have a Polyurethane sole too.
They will also come with 4 sets of laces; White (fitted), Burgundy, Gold and Black. A nice finishing touch is the ‘45’ on the heel of the shoe, which is the number MJ had on the first 22 Jordan 11’s he wore before he switched to the renowned 23 number. Nostalgia at its finest.
The 11’s will come in a special limited-edition Burgundy and Gold box, and he inside will have a graphic showing MJ and the Bulls record of 72 wins in the NBA 1995/96 season.
JESSICA PURDEY (AGE 6)
& Dad (@purdster7)
My daughter Jessica just wanted to send through her design. She said she doesn’t need a prize because she just likes colouring! Her Jordan 11 design started with orange as her favourite colour and the materials were rubber, string and felt. I’m not sure they’d hold up to our weather conditions. 😂😂
PIERS SHORT
Introducing the ‘AJ11 x Kaws’. As most of you already know, I’m a huge Kaws fan, so much so that I have a tattoo on my hand. As my ‘grail of all grails’ is the Kaws 4 (which I’m still unable to obtain), here’s my vision of the 4 in the form of a 11 with little touches that I’ve added.
RICHARD BAYBAY
Inspired by my parents, especially my late dad. I wanted to show gratitude from where we came from. The hemp/canvas uppers represent the sacks of coffee beans I used to see from the coffee plantation my family had in the Philippines. The different green tones represent the jungle my dad used to take me and my brothers, with hits of the traditional Filipino tribal pattern on the lace panels. Laced with pastel orange laces to represent the tropical sun.
The packaging is inspired by the ‘Barong Tagalog’ – the traditional wear of the Philippines which is a semi-opaque shirt worn over a white t-shirt or white vest. So, the white box represents the under layer and the plastic over sleeve is the Barong, with the traditional patterns.
THOMAS HOLMES
For my entry I wanted to play on the significance that Jordan 11s have around the holidays. There are clear similarities between both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant in their sporting achievements, and their importance to basketball. Taking this into account I wanted to design a ‘what if’ Jordan 11, that pays homage to both men. The Jordan 11 is one of MJ’s favourite silhouettes. For the colour and texture, I have paid homage the Kobe 6 Grinches, as not only are they seasonally appropriate, they are one of the strongest colourways on a basketball shoe from his career. My design focuses on the key design features of the Jordan 11, setting them off with the vibrant colours and unique texture detailing of the Kobe Grinches.
TOM HILLIER
Introducing the ‘Python 11s’ – uniquely designed with faux snakeskin panels and a Cordura nylon upper, as Tinker used on the original silhouette. The sneakers come in a classic AJ11 box with a twist, snakeskin feel around the outer of the lid, snakeskin paper and a Jumpman dust bag in Camo Green with a snakeskin Black 23 design.
Jordan loves to have sneakers designed to relate with his other hobbies – golf, motorsports etc. So, I chose to follow that approach with my two biggest passions.
1. I work with, and breed different species of pythons, so snakes/pythons are a huge part of my life. I’m grateful to be able to work with some amazing species, some of which are endangered. So, this design really comes from a place of passion.
2. As a huge Michael Jordan fan and Jordan sneaker collector, knowing the AJ11 was his favourite silhouette, it’s hard not to love this shoe. In my opinion, the OVO snakeskin is one of the best colab Jordan’s of all, so I wanted to create a similar design but with more of a jungle theme, using a mix of greens and browns on the snakeskin to give it that rainforest feel.
