{"id":541967,"date":"2017-06-18T19:38:04","date_gmt":"2017-06-18T23:38:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=541967"},"modified":"2022-09-17T21:26:23","modified_gmt":"2022-09-18T02:26:23","slug":"jason-mayden-nike-air-monarch-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/jason-mayden-nike-air-monarch-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"What It’s Like Being a Father to the Ultimate Dad Shoe"},"content":{"rendered":"
Father’s Day is a family favorite each year for many. While in the sneaker world the word “father” or “dad” and “shoe” together usually draw images in sneakerhead’s minds of a shoe that is not at the top of their cop-lists, the category plays a significant role in the overall footwear business. One shoe in particular, the Nike Air Monarch<\/strong>, is a perennial leader in the footwear business, frequently appearing in the top ten in US sales on almost any given week of the year.<\/p>\n The Nike Air Monarch first released in the early 2000s, and was notably one of the only shoes in Nike’s lineup that came in various widths (up to a EEEE). \u00a0Jason Mayden<\/strong>, who many associate with his design work at Jordan Brand after designing the Air Jordan 2009 and the first several signature shoes for Chris Paul, took on the project of redesigning the Nike Air Monarch for the sequel – the Nike Air Monarch II. \u00a0His design of the Nike Air Monarch II set the tone for the shoe and the multi-million dollar business that followed in its path.<\/p>\n I caught up with Jason this weekend to discuss what it was like designing the ultimate dad shoe, and the significance it holds to him as a designer and a father himself.<\/p>\n Matt Halfhill:<\/strong> Jason, thanks for taking the time to talk about the Monarch. \u00a0If my memory serves me correctly from our past conversations, your work on the shoe was relatively early on in your footwear design career.<\/p>\n Jason Mayden:<\/strong> It was! The Monarch was officially the first shoe that I designed as a Nike employee. I designed the Nike Air Monarch II and the European counterpart made for that region too.<\/p>\n I took on the Nike Air Monarch II project, which was a followup to the original Nike Air Monarch that released a few years earlier that was designed by Rob Dolan. It was a good design and Nike was trying to figure out how to take it and evolve it to compete with some of the other heavy hitters in that market space by New Balance. From a business perspective it was significant and very important, but from a design perspective it was undesirable.<\/p>\n
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