I’m a little late with this, I know, but I finally had a chance to check out Complex’s interview with Nike design veteran Tinker Hatfield. For those that aren’t familiar, Tinker is best known for designing the Nike Air Max 1 and a large portion of the Jordan signature line. In the interview he reveals some interesting facts regarding the Jordan brand (MJ hated the design of the X’s), and talks about the inspiration behind some of his most revolutionary designs (the Air Max 1’s were inspired by a French museum). What I found really interesting though, was his take on the current state of sneaker game:

Complex: Bape was made popular by their interpretations of the Air Force One. How do you feel about other brands mocking up Nike silhouettes?

Tinker Hatfield: It’s certainly a form of flattery. I feel in some ways though in the long run, it’s possibly hurting athletic footwear. I think we’re having more trouble promoting new performance designs than we have in the past. There are all these remakes and people are digging the remakes because they can actually participate in the remaking. I have to say I have a lot of limited edition Air Force Ones and Jordans and Air Maxes in my own closet. I think it’s really fun to wear them, and you can sort of put your own stamp of style into those kinds of shoes. It’s kind of a love/hate thing for me. I kind of hate it because it makes it harder to sort of convince people that this new kind of product is better than the old one, when they love the old one so much. But it’s kind of cool that they love the old one so much, and I was a part of that. So it kind of goes back and forth with me.

I guess this sort of explains why Nike continues to flood the streets with all of these retro releases. I love em, but damn, they’re becoming a wee bit annoying. Not to mention that fact that it’s become increasingly hard to keep track of all the release dates (not very “hypester” of me, I know). Anyhow, you can peep the full article at the link below.

[via Complex]