See below for a SICK(!) pair of customized “Year of the Dragon” Nike Air Force 1s + iPhone 4s case by Beijing-based designer Wang Zhijun. These pieces were created to celebrate 30×30 years (30 years of Nike in China + 30 years of Air Force 1s).
The design concept takes inspiration from traditional Chinese “Dragon and Sea” folktales, the Eight Trigrams, and the five elements, while the techniques used to execute the design are Chinese traditional pyrography and modern laser cutting.
Check out all the little details that make up this amazing work:
- The ocean wave pattern that covers the toe section represents everything in the world coming from the sea.
- The placement of the dragon scale patterns (from the Nike Swoosh logo, to the tongue, around the upper, etc.) implies that the dragon is inside the sneaker.
- A fusion of the Chinese character 卅 (meaning ”30″) with the letters “A,” “F,” and “1″ can be found on the inside of the heel to represent 30 years of Air Force 1s and Nike in China.
- On the outside heel (and on the shoe box lid) is a fusion of ”The Eight Trigrams” and 龙, the Chinese character for Dragon, as 2012 is the Year of the Dragon.
- A five-toe dragon claw is crafted around the Nike Swoosh logo on the back heel.
- The shoes are accessorized with metallic and wooden lace buckles, one with the 卅 fusion symbol, the other with Wang Zhijun’s personal design logo.
- The wooden shoe box was designed and assembled with traditional tenon-and-mortise techniques, and accented with a laser-cut graphic treatment.
- The shoes are packaged together with a bamboo iPhone 4S case (also accented with a laser-cut graphic treatment) and an additional set of custom lace buckles.
- Throughout the pack, you can find The Five Elements: metal — the metallic buckles; “wood” — the wooden box; “water” — the sea wave pattern: “fire” — the pyrography and laser techniques; “earth” — the magnet on the shoe box lid.
Wow…super cool stuff. Bravo Zhijun, bravo Nike!
For more from Wang Zhijun on NeochaEDGE, link here. /// TS
