words & interview // Darren Griffin:
“We loved LeBron James. We still love him. But this is Wade County. He is the Prince.”
That was the first mention made of Dwyane Wade after I’d touched down in Miami and set course to one of his favorite rest havens in the city, EPIC Hotel. Rene, my transport and the vocal spirit behind those affectionate and truth filled comments, spoke of Wade with jubilation, deep-rooted admiration, and quite possibly, and not in the slightest bit misplaced, love.
Her comments, though, were not made to imply that Wade himself isn’t a king. In fact, from what I gathered, she meant to express something of a pseudo monarchy, where the prince rules as a king without the strife and decrepitation often tied to a kingly figure. This admiration, and inventive lens in which leadership is viewed, is commonplace where Dwyane is concerned. Not only in Miami and with the Heat organization, but through his Chief Brand Officer role with leading Chinese sportswear company, Li-Ning.
Birthed in Beijing in 1990, Li-Ning is still searching for consistency with often fickle US consumers. This fallacy, in its uniqueness, has provided an uplifting and empowering opportunity for Dwyane, one that many of his peers with signature shoes are far removed from, especially those of African American decent. Essentially, Li-Ning is entrusting the youthful 33-year old Wade with successfully Americanizing their brand. This, of course, is a huge credit to Dwyane’s unrelenting vision but also Li-Ning’s commitment to diversity. “We live in a world now where everyone’s mind is open to the endless possibilities of who you can be and what you can become,” Wade expressed. This conveys with exactness what his early birth class of millennials truly represent: creating opportunities previously removed for specific backgrounds, age groups, or exclusionary social standing.
Like all family oriented men with an increasing amount of responsibility and thoughts of leaving a legacy, Dwyane is very conscious of his age. Where the court is concerned, he knows he’s far from elderly – or as I like to say, “washed” – but remains confidently steadfast in that his “Flash” days are in the rearview. “Last year I ended up wearing the WoW 808. The Way of Wade 3 was just too high on my achilles. I wanted a shoe in the mid family. The Way of Wade 4 was all about finding that perfect medium.”
That expressed centermost point is handily defined by weight, which Wade says was a key component in the shoe’s re-design. “It’s all about the court,” the three-time NBA championship said about his new shoe. “The older you get the lighter you want to become. We put it [the Way of Wade 3] on a scale and we knew it had to be way lighter.”
There is also the incorporation of layered mesh, which over the past few years has become an industry standard and a more fluid option to juxtapose as desired. Updates to the shoes sole were also a critical rebuild. “Since I’ve been with this brand – knock on wood – I haven’t had any ankle problems at all because of how the shoe is built, with the shank and carbon fiber placement.” Li-Ning, still utilizing Carbon Fiber plating, infused an aggressively molded 3D shank for an easier and more cushion centric landing, something that was critical for Wade above many other new features.
Aesthetically, past iterations of the Way of Wade were met with open arms, as Dwyane’s revered personal style gracefully shined through. However, in this day and age basketball shoes have to be light, and the Way of Wade wasn’t light (enough). This, though, unknown to many, was due in large to the fact that the shoes were simply made with higher quality materials as opposed to other in-genre, basketball-specific sneakers. Premium leather construction was a key point of emphasis with the past three shoes. But the deviation from that bulkier fabrication is what makes this shoe the lightest yet. “We loved the leather shoes. We loved sneakerheads loving the shoes. But we knew if we wanted to make that next step we had to take the weight down. And we know what we had to shed to do that.”
As the brand’s most playable basketball shoe to date, this forthcoming release marks a strategic and daring turning point in both sartorial presence and material usage for the Way of Wade line.
“With my shoe we’ve never done anything like this. It was time we made a change,” Wade said. Divesting from wildly expressive stingray and dotted patterning seen in previous collections, Wade wanted the line to be more of a streamlined effort, flourishing through more subtle definition. “In terms of colors and materials this shoe is completely different for my brand,” he said of the color blocked simplicity noted in the budding new iterations. “You look at Kevin [Durant] and you look at Bron – they have so many colorways. That’s just the world we live in.” Layered deep within the undertones of this style centric progressive, the recently appointed ambassador of the inaugural New York Fashion Week clearly wants his footwear line to catch up with that of his personal style. “I’m into style and fashion. So when I put on the shoe, I don’t want it to just look like a basketball shoe.”
Among the best dressed athletes in the Association and across the spectrum of sports as a whole, he expressed his interest to begin collaborating now that he’s well into his Li-Ning tenure. “I love Public School. Those guys are amazing. I would love to sit down with them to design and collab on a shoe.” But in totality, Dwyane understands it takes time for these things to materialize. Moreover, he recognizes the overall aesthetic of the line is finally taking shape, shifting into what it will be for years to come. Where he sees his brand, somewhere located between high-end sportswear and heightened street aesthetics, parallels with Public School on a linear track. “That’s naturally where we’re progressing. That’s where I wanted to get to when I first came to the brand. That [style] is what I was ultimately trying to convey.”
Again, much like the contemporary New York City brand helmed by Maxwell Osbourne and Dao-Yi Chow, Wade wants to operate in his own space, far removed from the clash of industry titans. He sees no need for Li-Ning to compete with Jordan Brand, adidas and others. “Four years ago when we decided to leave Jordan Brand and take our talents to China,” he said jokingly, “a lot of people asked why I’d do that. Sometimes the top athletes don’t have a lot of say in everything that comes out, so I wanted to be more involved and have more control of something that has my name on it.” Wade continued, “In sneaker culture a lot of times, especially with our kids, if it’s not Nike, if it’s not Jordan, and now Kanye has snuck in that door, our minds are not open.”
Competing with not just other brands but a lack of diversification in the average consumer’s train of thought, it’s futile if Li-Ning and Wade are concerned to battle with sportswear giants at this juncture. They hope to achieve greater success by catering to their core demographic, while attaining new fans through organic channels. “I’m hoping we get to the point where when we start getting out there more, and people get the opportunity to be fans of our brand and certain things we do, this becomes a moment where Li-Ning took another step, and the Wade brand took a big step, towards doing all the things we want to achieve in the future.”
The Li-Ning Way of Wade 4 “Liberty” is available now for $190 at wayofwade.com.
