Design Project Debrief | Awakening an urban beast.

A few weeks ago, I met with the folks at Nike to discuss a possibility of creating a custom pair of Air Force 1s. The result was a truly epic collab and a bespoke pair of the legendary sneakers with my new signature motif.

Imagination & Inspiration...

When casting about for a motif, I decided to revive a mythological creature that lived in my childhood. The Dralion Cristatus - a fantastical creature inspired by a poem I wrote when I was 7 years old.

Entitled ‘The Fire Beast’, the poem (clumsily but enthusiastically) described a creature that was part dragon, part lion & part peacock.

The Dralion Cristatus had many incredible abilities. Perhaps the most fearsome of all was it’s Echoing Roar Of Invisible Fire - rendering entire Lego villages to ash. But it was mostly known for its deceptively beautiful appearance, its iron scales resembling the plumage of a peacock.

He was my champion & boyhood protector. Many a night would see him curled up at my feet, ready to chase away the demons that lay in wait for me - both in my dreams and in reality.

So, when I was thinking about what kind of motif I’d like to put on my Nike AirForce 1s, the Dralion Cristatus made perfect sense. The Fire Beast was to be reincarnated and brought to this world for the first time, and what better place to keep him than his usual post - at my feet, always at the ready to chase away my demons. Atleast the ones in reality.

Designing Dragons...

To bring the Dralion Cristatus to life, I drew upon the myth & inspiration of my 7 year old self & combined it with my design sensibilities as an adult. Dragons seem to be trendy these days, a bold mainstay in smash hit TV shows and on Parisian runways.

I designed the Dralion Cristatus to be a confluence of Norse mythology and Sri Lankan folklore. Viking gods and South Asian ‘yakka’ devils served as inspiration, with Gucci and Game Of Thrones providing a contemporary reference.

After having worked on the final motif design and deciding how it would live on the shoes, I then worked with Dubai-based illustrator Zainaab Kay to trace it over with her inimitable, deft mastery at India ink. I wanted the motif to look as it it were painted by hand on the shoes, much like ancient parchment manuscripts with their beautiful calligraphic flourishes and Zainaab was the perfect artist to help me achieve this.

Bringing it to life...

After the motif was ready, I worked with the Nike team here in the Middle East to foil print it on the shoes. Courtesy of two dapper gents Breezy and Robin (with such streetwise names, how could they not work at Nike?) the end result turned out to be more than I expected. The laser printing was perfect & precise, and each detail was perfectly captured and recreated so that it would be much more durable and long-lasting than if it were simply hand drawn.

Perched atop the Nike AirForce1, the Dralion Cristatus really took a life of its own, the hand-rendered strokes giving the creature a vibrancy & sense of movement.

After 23 years, the Dralion Cristatus had finally arisen to reclaim its original place.