April 25th, 2008 Nike has partnered with New York retailer Dave’s Quality Meat for a limited release of the Nike Blazer Hi. Originally released in 1973, the Nike Blazer Hi is Nike’s first Hoops shoe, becoming a pioneering basketball sneaker. “This style was one the [DQM] team of Chris Keeffe, Dave Ortiz and myself all agreed was iconic, as well as being a sneaker we’d not yet had the opportunity to work with Nike on,” said DQM’s Kyle Demers.
After spending time in the Nike Design library at World Headquarters, Beaverton, Oregon, the team identified full grain leather and the classic Safari print on premium suede as their materials of choice for this special Nike Blazer. The next step in the design process saw the DQM team divide into two groups: Chris and Dave were joined by Nike designer Al Baik, while Kyle paired with Nike Design Director, Jesse Leyva. “The challenge was to see which team, taking inspiration from BMX and Skateboarding in the 1980’s, could create the best color way for the Nike x DQM Blazer Mid,” said Kyle Demers.
“When Chris, Dave, Kyle, Al and myself shared ideas, I knew there was not one winner, and the Nike x DQM Blazer needed to be in fact a collection of all three versions created by the DQM team,” said Jesse Leyva. “So that’s exactly what we did. “
The Nike x DQM Blazer Hi will be available this summer in three colorways, at select retail accounts.
CHECK FOR THE DQM VIOLET BLAZER ON SATURDAY MAY THIRD.
