Bronco Boot
Garments
Hyperstar (concept runner)
A quick-turnaround exploration into what a future Converse performance runner could look and feel like. The concept began with rapid sketching and evolved around a substantial ~30mm foam stack, using the project as an opportunity to experiment with material combinations and construction methods new to Converse.
Digital Sketches
Exploration of the silhouette, construction, materials, and overall form through sketching. My main goal throughout the sketches was to lock down a form and silhouette. I would refine the details while 3D modeling the shoe in blender.
3D Texturing
Asides from getting free reign to explore a concept, I used this project to hone my skillset when it came to modeling, animating, and rendering.
BRONCO BOOT w/ Tyler the Creator
Worked with Tyler the Creator to reach back into the Converse Archive and reimagine a boot from decades ago. At the time little did I know this boot would be one of the staples of his Chromakopia outfits throughout his music videos and tours.
It was such a bizarre experience to see this on youtube while the album was being teased and just going "Woah that's the shoe we're making!".
Pattern Making and Tooling Blueprinting
Although the main driver on this project was achieving the look of the shoe from the archive, that didn't mean there was a lot of work to be done.
The Upper Pattern essentially had to be rebuilt from scratch to fit on a few different lasts while we decided which footwear last to go with, not to mention halfway through R2 and R3 of sampling we really wanted to push for a Welted Boot look, which in this case meant we needed to open up new outsole tooling to get this effect.
Marketing Photos
Vaquera sz1
This is a project I hold dear to my heart, not only were @vaquera.nyc an absolute dream to work with. It ended up beign another moment where I got to witness product being rolled out into the real world on an exciting stage.
"MOM GET THE CAMERA I GOT SHOES ON NYFW!"
It was beyond charming to see all the hardwork between developement and I come to fruition at a fashion week.
This shoe in particular ended up being a doozy with problems to solve. there were things like "how do we get it to stay sinched up", "how tall is too tall", "how do we make sure your foot is secure in here?"
And it all came down to patterning the upper and coming up with cleversolve for what was essentially securing the baggiest chuck taylor to your foot.
Early Pattern and Box Sketches
le Fleur Joggers w/ Tyler the Creator
A few extra jogger colorways/material trims of Tyler the Creator's jogger that came out the summer after his Chromakopia era. Although it was switching up the colors and going to leather uppers, nothing ever goes smoothly, we went through about 4 different alternative laces on the black sku because the goal was to have a silver alternate lace.
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Converse x Dragon Ball Z
My second licensing project, and this was a real heavy hitter. The entire collection here was designed by yours truly. From the theme of the Chuck Taylor All Stars being the heroes and villains fighting to get all the dragon balls and summon the more luxe Chuck Taylor 70s Shenron in it's all leather construction.
Albeit a ton of work, this ended up being one of the most enjoyable projects as it fun to balance enough playfulness with wearabilty in each shoe.
Chuck 70 - Shenron
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Adult Skus - CTAS - Heroes vs Villains
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Kids Skus
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The theme followed all the way down to the kids shoes, where one pair features our kid heroes Goten and Trunks, and the other pair featuring Majin Buu.
Early Explorations
Packaging Design
The box really ended up being a glue that brought it all together, from seamless wrapping the energy blasts around the box, to including all 7 dragon balls(funny enough this was a requirement in the unspoken rules of the dbz graphic design).
Converse x Coca-Cola
Chuck Taylor All Star
My first ever licensing project, and out of all the IPs it was Coca-Cola 😵. Jokes aside, this was a great jump into what the world of licensing was like, so many explorations and the best idea always being the simplest that you thought nobody would gravitate towards.
The story of this one is what makes it so cool, leaving the patch empty so you can write your name on it like a can Coca-Cola does.
ConverseByYOU
This project also let me experience what it's like desigining for ConversByYOU which is our customization platform. I was tasked with creating a toolkit of customizable assets that our consumer could mix and match to create their own Coca-Cola Chuck taylor.
FenG CHen WANG
First project on the team after switching over from innovation. Was the perfect trial by fire project as I managed communicating with the collaborator and translating their design intent, in this case it was turning Jian Ware into a shoe.
Converse x EDGLRD
Absolute fever dream of a collaboration. From working through some of the craziest ideas with the collaborator to stressing and pushing the details we could get while pushing paint through a screen.
What boiled down to being a somewhat simple concept, ended up being a real test to our developer's, factory partners as we tried to print literal pixels onto shoes.
Engineered Garments - Weapon ox
Reimagining a converse classic through the lens of Engineered garments.
Pattern Work
Although the idea was simple overal, the pattern did have to be created for the forefoot and heel strap here. Took a few tries and a little bit of back and forth between us and the collaborator to get it perfect, but it was worth.
A collection of the boxes i've worked on:
Engineered Garments - Weapon ox
Reimagining a converse classic through the lens of Engineered garments.
Pattern Work
Although the idea was simple overal, the pattern did have to be created for the forefoot and heel strap here. Took a few tries and a little bit of back and forth between us and the collaborator to get it perfect, but it was worth.
