Solefly x Air Jordan 8 “Mi Casa, Su Casa” Interview

What can you tell me about the Jordan 8? I know some of it was inspired by your Cuban roots – there’s some connection to that. I know that the broader Latino community in Miami inspires me.

gentleman: Yes, like you said, there is definitely Cuban inspiration behind this shoe. Because Carlos and I, our families are from Cuba, we both have a Cuban background. So I would say this shoe is heavily influenced by Cuba, from the Cuban tile design on the wrapper inside the shoe box to the tiles.

It also appears on the insole, which is inspired by the old Cuban tiles commonly found in many houses in Cuba. The mesh material on the side windows is inspired by the sofas our grandmothers used in Cuba. You know, Cuba is famous for its cigars. So there’s definitely a very big cigar inspiration behind our shoes.

As you can see on the box, it looks like a cigar box. When you open the box, the shoes are inside, but the physical box looks like an existing box of cigars. So there’s a lot of Cuban heritage in this shoe, including the cigars, the tiles, the materials we used, the suede.

Additionally, the shoe had a big impact on baseball. Part of the reason we made it like a sail or off-white was to make it feel like it was worn on a baseball diamond with clay. So we went with the colors of the Cuban Scorpions, an old baseball team from Cuba who played their first major league game in Cuba against the Baltimore Orioles. So this shoe also has a baseball background.

So you mentioned some materials; you mentioned mesh and suede. It looks like there might be something else going on there. How do you choose what to use?

Haiji: Yes, the upper ankle window has a sturdy canvas. The inspiration there was just an immigrant journey that transcended the Latino community. It’s just that any immigrant who moves to a new place will notice that he has to persevere, get scrappy, and do the best he can.

And then as (that) progression you get things like suede, which implies more durability, but just becomes more of a premium material and finish. This is more representative of the opportunities created in a new land and the freedom that comes with it. Finally, that window that Danny mentioned, one of the first things on our mood board was baseball, just because of its connection to the Latino community. In Miami, it’s the first sport that everyone is exposed to. Since 8 was also released around the same time (Michael Jordan) was interested in baseball, we referenced that on the grid. So our version ended up being this woven textile that Danny said is representative of a lot of textiles in Latino clothing and furniture, which is like rattan or wide eyelet mesh.

Then there’s the gold hardware. Cuban Link Gold was something we wanted to add in, kind of like a more fun homage to something a little more cultural.