Lance Armstrong x Nike Zoom Moire
Lance is known around the world as history’s best road race cyclist, but few knew where Lance got his start in this sport. Cycling was just one of the three legs Lance had to take part in as a triathlete. Running, the final leg, and where winners and losers are chosen, was an important one to Lance’s triathlon career. In 2006, after winning a record setting 7 Tour de France’s, Lance ran in the 2006 New York Marathon wearing the Nike + Zoom Moire.
Mark Smith created a manhole graphic that symbolizes the indelible spirit of both Lance and New York. The manhole cover is broken into sections by six spokes, which mirror the spokes of a bicycle. In each section, graphics such as a marathon icon, a cancer sign, a lightning bolt, a skull and numerous others are piled atop each other in tribute to Lance and his army. Around the outside of the manhole cover runs the epigraph twenty six point two miles thru five boroughs in the cold wet weather of New York City on Sunday November fifth two thousand and six USA.
Lance’s strength resides on the inside, what he’s truly made of. In a similar fashion, Smith chose to incorporate the symbols from the manhole on the inside of the Air Zoom Moire+. Using sublimated graphics, the story of Lance’s life plays out where it’s needed most internally. Externally, the shoe features the same great outsole and upper as the original.
