(AllHipHop News) It’s no secret that Kanye West loves to be fashionably relevant. From setting clothing trends worldwide, to partaking in Fashion Week events in Paris, France, West has embraced the fashion world with open arms.
His “kicks” game is apparently no exception, as Nike revealed the intricate design for his Air Yeezy II shoes, seeking to blend classic Nike court breakthroughs with the performance and aesthetic demand of West himself.
The shoes feature skived anaconda-textured, leather quarter panels, complimented with a debossed Vac-Tech Nike Swoosh.
The molded rear is sculpted with a reptilian inspired spike, while an engineered strap with scaled down spikes was developed to offer a greater sense of symmetry and lock down.
Nike sought to celebrate the iconic Nike cross-training silhouettes, with the addition of the molded forefoot strap.
Inspiration for the shoe came from the late 1980s basketball shoes and the original Nike Air Yeezy, and is built on the Nike Air Tech Challenge II tennis shoe outsole.
The foot-hugging tongue and plush collar were made with comfortable and breathability in mind, while both parties sought to make the shoe slimmer than the original by tailoring it to West’s foot, while lowering the collar.
Kanye and Nike’s obsessive approach to materials resulted in a luxurious mix of leather, rugged ballistic nylon, and soft nubuck.
The shoes are completed with hieroglyphics that spells out ‘YZY’ on the forefoot strap.
Each screw on lace aglet is obelisk shaped, and the anaconda texture is echoed on the eyelets and leather lace toggle that carries the Roman numeral ‘II.’
The Nike Air Yeezy II in the Platinum and Black editions will release June 9 at select global retailers in limited numbers.