Three-time NBA champion, elementary school founder, and soon-to-be television show producer LeBron James has now set his sights on changing the footwear game.
James debuted the HFR x LeBron 16, the first shoe from a male athlete's line designed entirely by women, for women. The shoe is a collaboration with Harlem's Fashion Row, a platform for designers of color, and will be sold by Nike along with James' other products, SB Nation reports.
Three women from Harlem's Fashion Row designed the shoe — Undra Duncan, Fe Noel, and Kimberly Goldson — along with Nike designer Meline Khachatourian. The all-female team and project was inspired by James' own appreciation for the women in his life.
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"I was thinking about the African-American woman, and why I believe they’re the most powerful women in the world," James said Tuesday at the Harlem Fashion Row Showcase Gala. "I grew up around some amazingly strong women and am inspired by the strength I see around me, including my mom, wife, and daughter."
Nike representatives approached James last year after hearing him cite his mother, Gloria, as the strongest athlete and woman he knew, SB Nation writes. The company suggested he translate his feelings into a shoe for his line.
"We couldn't have dreamed this," Goldson said. "At what point can you say to yourself, 'I want to be the first African-American woman to design LeBron’s shoe?' You can't even put that into words." Read more about the new launch at SB Nation.
