Pigalle x Nike Lebron 12

On the occasion of the lauch of Pigalle x Nike Lebron 12 tomorrow, we propose you here the interview made by the friends from Hypebeast to Pigalle designer Stéphane Ashpool and athlete LeBron James.

How did you meet?

LB: In 2009, I was doing a tour for a documentary of mine about my high school friends More than a Game, in Paris, and I had an opportunity to do an appearance at a park. Stéphane was there ’cause it was in the Pigalle neighborhood.

SH: How could I not remember a guy like LeBron! It was amazing to have him in our area, and the kids went crazy. He changed some of their lives. Every kid around the area started to play basketball, even though the French usually play soccer. He turned a hundred kids into playing basketball.

Stéphane, what does it mean to grow up in the Pigalle area?

SH: It was very fun, actually. Pigalle is like a village in a big town, and it has a good, diverse crowd. It has a lot of different people from different types of social parts. It’s extra diverse.

LB: It’s really great, because he understands the concept of game – the game of basketball. He’s not going to mess with the integrity of the shoe. He keeps the performance side and also style. He knows both sides of the fist.

What are the design concepts of the shoe? Was on-court-off-court style something you wanted to incorporate?

SH: We kept the performance side and tried to bring an aspect that you could wear the shoes on the street too. The shoes themselves are already very well-designed, so I wanted to pop up the metal part, and tried to bring some element of a pattern that was inspired by the shot clock. “Time passing” is something that will be a reoccurring theme in my work. It’s 24 seconds for a playoff game, it’s also 24 hours in a day. My style before was wearing shoes on the court and off the court and trying to look good in both. That was really important for me.

LB: Oh absolutely. That’s something that’s been a staple of mine for the last few years — of not only having performance shoes but also one that’s going into style and fashion. This is another example of a vet notion: being able to have something that’s on-court but also to have something that’s off the floor as well. This collaboration has definitely brought that to life.

SH: We put a huge emphasis on detail, as you can see on all the bindings, and inside, we have a memory foam. I tried to get as much silver as we could to bring a futuristic feel to it. I was thinking a lot about Paris Fashion Week and I said to myself, “Okay, can people wear this during a fashion show?” I showed the shoes to some top friends in fashion and they were really impressed, they really liked the shoes.

LB: It was a great feeling, obviously. For me to be blessed with having my own signature line and having a signature Elite series, it’s always a great feeling. And it even makes it that much more special when you’re able to have a collaboration with Stéphane and to be able to do some great things like this, and to give other people the same feelings that we have when we put the shoe on and take the shoe out the box, so it’s great.

SH: I go crazy when I see the shoes. To start doing a shoe you have to stick to one idea and try not to change your way. So I had one idea and I just ran with it, developing it till I see the final result.