Every design has an inspiration.
In 1990, Tinker Hatfield was inspired by one of Michael Jordan's many sports cars: the Porsche 911. The result of this is the iconic Air Jordan VI. A perforated sport-upper mimmicked the leather interior of the luxury sport coupe. In addition, the placement of the clear outsole portions visible from the profile hint towards a car's wheelbase and stance. However, the most prominent design element that Tinker implemented from the 911 is the large plastic heel tab. The shape and placement was designed to reflect the oversized wing spoilers present on 911s at the time.
My goal was to further develop this inspiration and transform the Air Jordan VI as close to a geniune Porsche as possible.
This began with a "Guards Red" (official Porsche color) upper with a deep, waxed gloss finish. Next, the tongue (or interior) received a rich tan application to compliment the intense upper. Then the heel air max cavity was painted a bright maize to represent the signature Brembo brakes and calipers of the 911 series. Next, the toe and heel received "hood" and "trunk" emblems. Both sets are shaped to reflect the Porsche emblem. The front pair spells "C2", while the heel are built into an Air Jordan emblem (complete with Wings in the 1st and 4th quarters). Finally, holes were drilled in each heel and filled with hand cut metal exhaust pipes. Each heel has two exhausts to form the signature Porsche 911 quad exhaust as a pair.
This design has proven to be one of the most "hyped" custom sneakers of the year thus far. Order requests have greatly exceeded capacity and the C2 Customs brand has never been stronger.
Coincidentally, Porsche announced and unveiled a new 911 on the same morning this design went public. There was more action on Twitter about these kicks than there was about the announcement of the actual car. #imjustsaying
For further design inspiration and explanation, please click on the thumbnails below:
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Agate Metallic Grey/Porsche Red-Black version:
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