The Chicago born artist constructed the genderless ready-to-wear and footwear collection to unite with the Brand that has inspired her throughout her life in this full-circle moment.
Using her bold and colorful style, Abney blends representation and abstraction to face challenging conversations within her art. As she breaks the rules with her undefinable and iconic art, her wearable work moves towards the democratization of art for the younger generation.
The Nina Chanel Abney x Jordan Brand collection will be released on July 8th via SNKRS and select global retailers. Learn more here
Shui says of this project, “Well, it's funny because I went to a basketball college. I never was into it because I was not good at sports— but this project made me learn so much more about basketball and how it's deeply related to entrepreneurship. A lot of ideas and values that are in basketball and sports are so much related to how we live our lives. Commitment, working hard on what you do, not giving up. Even if you lose a game, you get back up and you do it again. And also I think women's basketball is particularly fascinating, because stereotypically, it's almost like men's basketball is hypersexualized, but women's is the opposite. You're not thought of as feminine or sexy if you're playing such an aggressive sport. It's interesting to work with that, because my clothing's considered so sexy all the time. And to work with a female basketball player all day is incredible.”
Michelle Walter, Jordan Brand Women’s Apparel Sr. Design Director says, “As a Jordan Brand designer, it’s rewarding to see our apparel designs on WNBA athletes. With an increased understanding of Kim Shui design language and Isabelle’s aesthetics, we approached this look with a desire to play up color and textures. The ice blue Essentials body-con top contours Isabelle’s form and balances Kim’s vibrant corseted pant. It’s incredible to see how Kim interpreted Isabelle’s insights and challenged both herself and the brand to create a look that shows off Isabelle’s fearless personality.”
Shui touches on her intention with Thursday’s baby blue look, “I think it was interesting to build something that accentuated the legs, because she mentioned always having problems. Like finding pants that were not long enough or didn't fit well. I think it was interesting to do something that was a little bit more sculptural and challenging that way, but do it in her size, which is something she would normally not find, because of the length of it. It's pulled in the middle with strings. And then we hand embroidered it with the crystals, to give it a feminine touch. And then the cosseting is the feminine part. And then the boot look is supposed to be this fighter, warrior type inspiration.”
“Excited to see this custom look for @omg_itsizzyb come to life for one of her home games in Dallas, Texas. The look was designed as a modern armour inspired by heroines. The pieces aspire to convey a duality highlighting both Izzy’s strength and femininity. We worked on accentuating her figure with bodycon corsetry and cut outs — along with delicate porcelain prints, and hand sewn diamanté detailing. Being 6’3, Izzy mentioned that it was hard to find pants that were her length and fit her properly. We wanted to extend and reconstruct that reality. We paired the look with a Jordan Women’s Essentials Bodysuit in Celestine Blue, Women’s Essentials Short in University Blue and Air Jordan One High Tops.”
Jordan Brand designer Peter Koytroulis says, “Michelle and I worked together with Lopez to accentuate his style with iconic pieces from our collections. When thinking of the overall look, the goal was to have the Jordan pieces work in sync with the Luar pieces, making sure we hit the perfect trifecta of the Jordan Brand, the designer’s vision, and the athlete’s sense of style and individualism.“
Raul continues, “Everyone brought their own language to the table. Aeriel likes to move between tomboy and feminine. The language of fluidity across gender is in all my designs. The contribution from Jordan Brand Design was the functionality of products, in their form and silhouette. There was a common language between us in form, function, and silhouette.”
“With this look, I hope she feels iconic. And that she feels super sexy and fab, which is really like the Luar girl. She loves not just feeling different but feeling comfortable in her own skin and really appreciating what she's wearing and how it fits her, and to me, that's super important. It's not just my design. I'm making all this stuff, but also I'm asking, ‘Okay, what girl's going to wear this?’ I don't want it to just be like so-and-so. That skirt that's hanging there, I feel like you could wear it with sneakers, but you could also wear it with heels. You could also wear it with boots. It's a way of using this one silhouette but positioning it in different types of scenes— which is kind of me, like a chameleon. I hang out with the Bushwick girls. I hang out with the Upper East Side girls. I hang out with everyone, but having that specific piece where you can just go from day to night but also go from scene to scene.”
“Basketball and sports are a super huge inspiration because, as a Latino, you grow up, and sports is number one. It's either basketball, baseball, or one of those sports, so I definitely grew up around it, and I always loved the shapes and the silhouettes of all those pieces, and I use it all the time. It's a big reference point.”
“Growing up in NY in this urban dystopia I was always obsessed with being a Jordan girl. It was quintessential to being an icon in the hood. Conceptualizing Aerial's look after hanging with her it was a marriage in Jordan heaven. For this look, I wanted to bring the Luar Jordan girl to life by striking a balance between the sporty and the sexy with this custom slinky Luar skirt, styled with Jordan pieces.”
