Marok, the latest artist designer for the Nike 1World AF1 series, sits down with Highsnobiety to discuss design, and specifically the design of his AF1 for Nike. His shoe is one of our favorites in the collection.

We have been following the Nike 1World campaign like Yankees players follow cash.  The next installment in the series is a collaboration with the CLOT crew from Hong Kong.  The inspiration for the kicks derive mainly from the new Chinese New Year.  They are made with Clot Royale Deluxe Silk with embroidered Clot graphics in the material.  Speaking of the material, it is tear-away, or burn-away.  That’s right.  You can peel away the top layer of the Silk, and underneath is another texture of brown material.  The exposure to the second layer of material (and new color way) portrays the idea of looking beyond the surface and the superficial outer context to what lies beneath.  The CLOT Nike 1World AF1 will be released on January 16th at Juice in Hong Kong and ACU in Shanghai.

Nike seems to make all the right business decisions.  In a brilliant move, Nike has partnered with Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka to produce the newest Nike 1World shoe.  Nike must have noticed the unbelivable following that Asian players are receiving in sports, as evident by the record numbers the players are receiving in the all-star voting.  The new Air Force 1 should be a hit.  Daisuke shows off his background with these fresh kicks.  The color scheme, materials, and art on the heel and inside the shoe, represent the Japanese influence by using traditional dragons.  Daisuke wanted the leather on the orange part of the shoe to appear as that of the skin of a dragon and he added a taste of his own with the pony hair material used around the shoe.  Notice the dragon’s on the heel and inner sole of the shoe representing not just his Japanese heritage but also his number 18 that he wears for the Red Sox.

Nike has made an amazingly clever choice as its next 1World Collection designer, collaborating with none other than Ladainian Tomlinson to create the newest Nike 1World shoe. LT joins KAWS, ?uestlove, Rasheed Wallace and others as guest designers for the m18-part collection. The LT 1World shoe looks to be the simplest of the collection thus far, showcasing a white Crocodile pattern on the upper, a Chargers’ blue accent with LT’s initials disguised as a lightning flash on the heel, LT’s signature on the tongue, and his #21 on the lace tag. As with the other 1World Collection sneaks, this will be released (September) at a retail price circa $250 at select Nike accounts.

We have our 3rd U.S. representative for the influencer collection that is Nike 1World. Nike has pulled a collabo’ with Philadelphia-native Ahmir Thompson, a.k.a. ?uestlove (Questlove), the drummer, producer, DJ, and multi-talented member of the original hip hop band, The Roots.

With the brightly contrasting green and yellow color ways, ?uestlove has created an appeal like no other equipped with the popular concrete pattern on the green mid-sole. With regard to the loud design, the renaissance man has exclaimed that, “I just wanted to start off with a very loud statement, a sneaker that sort of has 12 exclamation points behind it. Something that just screams “Rahhhhrr” so you know, this is an extension of my personality. The inside (of the shoe) is of me drumming. Yeah, inside art is very important to me. Even though you’re the only person that sees it from a consumer standpoint but, I sorta know you put a lot of work into it as a designer based on how your shoe is designed on the sole.”

When taking a look at the pics, whatever you do, Haapwyshits wants to make sure you make a mental note of the ?uestlove silhouette on the back of the shoe and the tongue.  Sick like the flu with no remedy.

The Nike 1World Air Force 1 Air Questo will be available only in select Nike retail locations, including ALIFE in NYC on August 1, UBIQ in Philadelphia on August 5, Nike Sportswear in LA on August 6.

Get ‘em, if not because Haapwyshits told you to, because ?uestlove did.