this was a very proud moment for me early in my career. Jesse Owens is a legend; he’s the type of person myths don’t do justice to.

I was assigned a project to create a small pack of basketball shoes to commemorate Black History Month and soon after realized I was completely unqualified to create this story on my own. After asking around, one of the PMs in basketball, the great Ray Boyd, had the idea to commemorate one of the the original Adidas Athletes, Jesse Owens. It was a brilliant idea for this specific pack and a great reminder to always be humble when faced with tasks out of my depth.

Having an opportunity to create around one of the, if not THE greatest track athlete of all time (I’d later get to work with Jackie Joyner-Kersee who is also on that short list) would be one thing. But this is a Black man who stood in front Adolf Hitler three separate times and sang the Star Bangled Banner while wearing a gold medal around his neck at the games Germany was hosting. There is defiance, and then there is Jesse-f**king-Owens.

The pack revolves around Jesse’s bib number and three gold medals he earned in the 1936 Olympic Games. The leather is pays homage to the Dassler Bros. spikes he wore and the aged gold for how timeless his story truly is.

I’d encourage anyone interested in Jesse’s life to read about his relationship with Lutz Long, the German competitor who befriended Jesse at the games. It’s a tragic story, but one that we should probably remind ourselves more often.