Multidisciplinary Dutch artist Piet Parra has always skated in white shoes. Fans of his art, and the many Nike sneakers he’s played a role in creating, have come to expect bold bursts of color and pattern. The challenge in formulating an approach for his first capsule collection with Nike SB was balancing his identity as a skater with expectations of his output.
“I knew I wanted to make a shoe that I would skate in, but also appeal to the people that are more into my use of color and drawings,” he says. “That’s how I got to the colorful, layered Swoosh and the crazy pattern on the inside of the shoe.”
The multi-colored, layered Swoosh, which finishes in a pink chenille, embellishes both a Dunk and Blazer, giving each a unique textural dimension. A pattern built from the Swoosh execution, along with typography and characters developed by Parra, decorate the shoes’ respective insoles and inform the design of the collections’ apparel pieces — including caps, T-shirts, polos and trousers.
The Nike SB x Parra Collection releases July 26 at skate shops and July 27 on SNKRS and SNEAKRS. For more visit nikesb.com.