MADEXXX MADEINC create this moment where children can see themselves as part of the narrative and not just consumers of a narrative , but it just wasn ’ t the right time — the market wasn ’ t mature , the sneaker culture itself was still evolving so people weren ’ t thinking beyond what was currently accepted . What I noticed when my son got sick was there are very few narratives that encourage the child to be creative and to be physical so our whole positioning is around this notion of creativity and physical ability .
When I looked at the research we conducted I looked at the market , the embodiment of aspirational creativity and physical prowess is a super hero and you can see how that ’ s playing out right now . Superheroes are the most aspirational archetype that you can aspire toward . Even moreso than the athlete , so I think it was a combination of me starting at the age of seven when I was in the hospital and being on my death bed and falling in love with comic book narratives when I couldn ’ t move and play and continue in that spirit and desire to use stories and artifacts to enhance the child ’ s well-being . It was a natural evolution for me away from performance products for adults and athletes to build performance play products for children , so I think the idea had always been inside , me but it was just about timing and me stepping into what I believe is my purpose .
The South Side Of Chicago Has A Major Influence On His Work My upbringing on the South Side has influenced my work significantly . There ’ s a certain way that we dress , there ’ s a certain way that we speak , there ’ s a certain knowledge of our history , certain knowledge of our
worth and understanding of our significance in relation to the creative arts and our contributions there . It gave me this unwavering sense of self-confidence where when you ’ re a designer every day , you ’ re putting your ideas out there to be critiqued , to be poked and prodded and rejected or accepted . So if you don ’ t have an anchoring , which is knowledge of where you came from , its becomes exceptionally hard to put your stuff out into the world and then receive the feedback that is normally given . So Chicago , specifically the South Side , gave me and gives me this continued sense of self-pride and self-love and it also kept me in the mindset of curiosity and wonderment because there ’ s so many different elements of Chicago that make it this complex , beautiful and chaotic system .
What He Learned From Michael Jordan What Jordan had that I think a lot of people don ’ t understand is that the way in which we view our role in the world . It ’ s an important experience to have while you ’ re there because you ’ re not necessarily told that what you ’ re doing is going to be important because you know a lot of people care about the product and stuff that you ’ re working on so seeing Michael and how he cared about the impact of what we did , how we cared about the quality of what we produced , that carried forward and it carries forward into everything I do in my life . I think about the person who is able to experience my products for the first time and I want them to feel just as excited as the person who
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