NIKE AIR [co]+LAB Collectable x Bruce Kilgore, NIKE Director of Advanced Research & Development


This as new, unworn & unused hyper-rare Nike Air [co]+LAB fandom project is an official 2006 collaboration between NIKE, Bruce Kilgore (the Director of Advanced Research and Development at Nike, and the designer of the Air Force 1, the Dunk, and the Jordan II), Medicom Toy Japan: Be@rbrick, Colette Paris, Sneaker Freaker Magazine Australia, and the Paris/New York/Tokyo based artist collective Surface to Air.


How Bruce Kilgore Blew Up Basketball & Street Culture Style... Wu Tang Style!

Crafting a ‘classic’ sneaker seems to be down to a fine science, and the hope that the audience will take to it well. Bruce Kilgore seemingly had that science mastered in 1982 when he designed the Nike Air Force 1. 

The Air Force 1 was the first basketball sneaker Bruce Kilgore designed and marked the beginning of using airbag technology in a basketball shoe. The original rollout of the sneaker saw six of the top NBA basketball players at the time, including Michael Cooper, Bobby Jones, Moses Malone, donning the new silhouette in its initial high top variant. 

AF1 had already transcended the basketball court. Taking its place within streetwear and hip-hop culture during the early 2000s, where the shoe has stayed to this day.

Following the creation of the world-famous Air Force 1, Kilgore went on to design a number of tennis shoes including the Nike Air Ace, the Air Pressure, and in 1986, alongside Air Jordan 1 designer Peter Moore, the Air Jordan 2.


"One thing he hasn’t done is looked back. Even as the revolutionary Air Force 1 turned 25 back in 2007, even as it was lauded and celebrated by everyone from athletes to entertainers." SLAM & KICKS Hall Of Fame

https://hypebeast.com/2006/6/nike-co-lab-fall-2006-collection

https://www.slamonline.com/kicks/show-of-force-bruce-kilgore-nike-kicks