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My Shoe, My Way: The Nike Janoski Turns 10

“My shoe, my way. That’s what I said. I don’t care. I don’t have a shoe now and if you don’t do it the way I want it, then I still won’t have a shoe. It doesn’t matter to me!”

It was a decade ago that the pursuit of the perfect shoe was found for Stefan Janoski and the creative team at Nike and we’re here to tell you all about it, why you need to add it to your wardrobe or simply why you need another pair. Once solely built for skateboarders, the Janoski has now proven to be an essential footwear staple for all. It’s slim shape and minimal aesthetic is what the market didn't know it needed at the time and a now decade on, is the hot property the market continues to demand.

“He was such a hot commodity we wanted to come up with a shoe very quickly, but yeah… it didn’t work out that way,” recalls James Arizumi, Nike’s Creative Director when quizzed on how the lucrative collaboration took its first steps. “Basically he told us ‘this is not my shoe, I don’t know how you came up with this, what were you thinking?' I think he even picked it up, looked at it and threw it back to us.” continues Arizumi.

The good news story of Stefan’s passion and dedication to design you ask? The late nights, long, detailed phone calls and ongoing persistence eventually would pay off for both parties, the finished product now claiming fame to one of the brands most successful collaborations to date. A design template once pronounced ‘too risky’ due to its breakaway mould from the puffier, bigger skate shoes of its era has now grown to an army of over 1,500 versions distributed worldwide.

“It’s one of those shoes that as soon as you lay your eyes on it, you know it’s a home run!”Paul Rodriguez, Professional Skateboarder.

Like any creation of an industry changing product, there’s a full story to go with it and this is one to drop what you’re doing and listen in. Join us to celebrate the momentous occasion and tune in for the tell all tale of how this iconic shoe came to life below. Once you’re done, shop our full range of Stefan Janoski's signature shoe here.