{"id":894161,"date":"2019-04-23T09:05:32","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T13:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=894161"},"modified":"2023-12-19T14:33:10","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T20:33:10","slug":"how-eric-avar-scientifically-shifted-nike-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/how-eric-avar-scientifically-shifted-nike-basketball\/","title":{"rendered":"How Eric Avar Scientifically Shifted Nike Basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Let me start this designer profile by acknowledging the number of times I had to say to myself “I can’t leave these out” to only leave shoes out of this conversation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are too many iconic designs in this man’s catalog to name them all so we’re touching on the greatest hits.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Eric Avar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eric Avar stands as one of the Swoosh’s transcendent designers and his contributions have undoubtedly shaped Nike Basketball into the Goliath it is today. The trajectory of signature shoes from all-time great ballers like Kobe Bryant, Penny Hardaway and Gary Payton (among a laundry list of others) would look vastly different if it wasn’t for Eric Avar’s keen ability to create footwear that’s bold yet relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cGood design is a balance between art and science — bold expression and just enough familiarity.\u201d- Eric Avar<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Footwear design became a real passion for Eric when he mixed two of his greatest loves – art and sport. His father was a mechanical engineer and his mother was an artist so problem-solving skills and creativity flowed through his veins naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking from such talents, he graduated from the Rochester Institute of Design and quickly started working for Nike in 1991. His first assignment was on one of the most recognizable Nike Basketball silhouettes, the Nike Air Flight Huarache<\/a>, as a junior designer under Tinker Hatfield<\/a> (makes it sound easy, right?).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nike Air Flight Huarache sketch by Eric Avar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Helping on the Air Flight Huarache was only the start of a legendary shoe design career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the interest of time let’s fast forward to the first signature hoops shoe Eric spearheaded for a budding star based out of Orlando…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Penny Hardaway in the Nike Air Max Penny<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1995 Eric Avar’s Air Max Penny took the basketball world by storm. With Michael Jordan retired Nike needed a fresh new guard to champion their basketball division, so they leaned heavily into a young Penny Hardaway to be the man<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The design spoke to Penny’s free-flowing style of play, and in a way, the shoes were relatable to consumers (if such a thing is possible). Eric created a shoe that was sneakily advanced both aesthetically and technologically, but at the end of the day, he created a shoe that embodied Hardaway’s youthfulness and character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Nike Air Max Penny<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In his next effort to fuse art and science, Eric Avar designed an unforgettable shoe dubbed the Air Foamposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Foamposite is one of the most famous designs of footwear history. Everything about the Foamposite is next level from its materials to its debut in the NCAA Tournament (S\/O to Mike Bibby). The molded plastic (AKA Foamposite) upper initially shocked the basketball world with its gaudy look, but 20+ years later they simply look normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in 1997 basketball shoes had a formula, but when Avar created the Foamposite he rewrote the performance basketball blueprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mike Bibby in the Air Foamposite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Foampsoite’s seamless one-piece construction coupled with its internal bootie paved the way for shoes like the Air Flightposite and Air Flight 98 (both Eric Avar creations) to succeed. Eric has demonstrated a great amount of foresight throughout his Nike career with a knack for designing for the future – shoes that drive the performance landscape forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We could go on for hours about Foams because they truly inspired a generation. It’s not crazy to think that the Foamposite project helped prepare Eric for later endeavors like the HyperAdapt BB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ’90s were an extremely memorable era for Nike Basketball, and Avar had his hand in everything from the Barkley line to the Zoom Flight 95 and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nike Air Foamposite sketch by Eric Avar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the new Millennium approached the hits kept on rolling for Eric with more envelope-pushing designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2001’s Air Hyperflight built upon the Foamposite’s foundation with its sleek, hyper-aggressive, construction; and 2003’s Zoom Ultraflight took things one step further by marrying “traditional” materials with cutting edge TPU (plastic) counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nike Zoom Ultraflight concept art by Eric Avar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With one eye always looking forward Eric showed everyone time and time again that he understood how to create footwear that enhanced athletes with<\/strong> technology instead of “just creating another shoe.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a related note, we’d be doing a disservice by failing to mention Eric’s hand in the Nike Alpha Project initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoes birthed under the Alpha Project umbrella can commonly be identified by five dots like the ones located on the heel in the picture above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nike Zoom Huarache 2k4 concept sketch by Eric Avar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the early to mid-2000s, shoes like the Nike Air Hyperflight and Zoom Ultraflight were sleepers in the shoe game. They\u2019re great performers but their experimental looks kept them from being viable casual options. Avar sought to change that on his way to creating the exceptional Huarache 2K4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea was to bring back classic basketball design principles (aka shoes that looked great on and off the hardwood) in a very modern way (aka science and technology).\u201d \u2013 Eric Avar<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kobe Bryant in the Nike Zoom Huarache 2k4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 2k4 design team revisited the Air Flight Huarache (and other classics) with the goal of marrying their best characteristics like fit, innovation and comfort with the classic aesthetic of the Air Force 1 to create an easily rockable performance juggernaut!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n