Adidas

INTERVIEW with Adidas Footwear Designer Danny Kinley

Interviewed by: Matt Bauer Web Editor

What was the process like when you picked the brains of your pros for their ideas on the new shoes?
I’ll usually bring them some ideas to get the ball rolling and then we’ll just sit and talk about what they’re into and what they’re not. Once I get back to Portland I’ll work some things up and e-mail it to them, revise it a bit and then start getting samples made up for them to review. Then we sprinkle some magic skate dust on it, high five each other and pour some out for Adi Dassler.

What is the priority in building a signature shoe, function or style?
You can’t really separate the two. Good design is just finding that perfect balance of style and function. It doesn’t matter if a shoe will last forever if nobody would ever want to skate in it. But at the same time if a shoe looks dope and gets blown out as soon as it hits your grip it’s not really a skate shoe.

Did you use anything out of the ordinary for inspiration?
Yes.

What is the smallest and largest size shoes you’ve ever designed/ produced?
Smallest would have to be Zach Lyons. Don’t tell him that though. . . I don’t want to get stabbed. Biggest, I don’t know. Most of our dudes are pretty average size if that’s what you mean. Sorry all you size 20 skaters out there. Our skate shoes only go up to US 14.

What pro has had the weirdest request on shoe design and what was it?
That’s easy. It’s got to be Gonz. I don’t want to give too much away but it involved a pair of Sperry Topsiders, an orange juice bottle and some Shoe Goo®. Mark is so rad to work with because he always brings us some really off the charts eccentric, genius ideas.

What is the design process like from start to finish (brief overview)?
Well basically we do our research, travel around, see what the kids are into and determine where things are going in the next year. Then we decide what silhouettes we need to focus on and I start sketching shoes up. I’ll just sit down and sketch as many shoes as I can. Then we narrow those sketches down, choose the best direction, refine it, and make the tech drawings to send to the factory. Then we go to the factory and revise the sample. After several rounds of revising the sample, perfecting the fit and look, we send it to production.

What is your all time favorite Adidas Shoe?
Oh man that’s a tough one. There are so many favorites Marathon 80, Forum Mid, the Skate, Copa Mundial, the Jesse Owens track spikes! ZX500. The list changes every day.

Thanks for the low down on Adidas Danny and let us know what you end up doing with the orange juice box.

Make sure you head over to ADIDAS to get your sneaks today.