GREATEST: Ben Kirschner
Designer, dad, sneakerhead—Ben is a lot of things. We sat down as he shared his journey and insights about inspiration, mindset, process and introspection.
Ben Kirschner is a lot of things: Designer. Dad. Vintage hoarder. Sneakerhead. Car aficionado. Sports enthusiast. Like all of us, he is a product of his environment, which includes his upbringing in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, and a love of being unique yet classic.
On a typical overcast and dreary Pacific Northwest day, we met up in Kirschner’s garage, which serves as a sanctum where he can get away and think. What I’ve noticed about Kirschner all these years is that he is always ideating, always thinking of the next thing, always moving. His garage is full of Nike items and vintage trinkets—old and new, form and function—and it is stacked with shoes, yet we barely opened up any boxes. The items that have settled into his garage are all a part of who he is. An old jukebox sits in the corner, next to a Nike SB Frisbee. Racks of vintage jackets and jerseys hang underneath a bright blue neon Nike sign. An old go-kart is displayed next to a shiny, red ’63 Impala. All of these things inspire him, but more importantly, each item defines him, too.
While he is not an outright process-driven person, there is a method to his mindset. You may know Kirschner by his output at Nike—the Air Jordan Future, the SF Air Force 1—several projects and collaborations during his time in Jordan Brand and Nike Sportswear that we’ve all come to know, love, collect and wear. But he’s not done. He’s onto the next idea, the next sneaker, the next project.
We sat down as he shared his journey and insights, through carefully curated stories about inspiration, mindset, process and introspection. Ben Kirschner is a lot of things.
PROCESS
What was your first memory of wanting to work and design at Nike?
At the time I was going to school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do—I thought I was going to be a basketball player like everybody else. Basketball's kind of what got me into shoes, because you always wanted to wear the newest, freshest sneakers. From there, I basically wanted to work at Nike—I’ve always wanted to work at Nike. Also, growing up in Seattle, the heroes at the time were Ken Griffey Jr. and Gary Payton, both Nike athletes. So my love and passion for Nike started with sports.
While at University of Washington I got into industrial design. A friend told me that you could “design” shoes and I remember telling him, ‘Design shoes? You’re crazy.’ So I looked into it, and industrial design was the program. During school, I was also accepted into the Nike intern program. I went down to campus, and the first person I sat down and met with was Tinker Hatfield. During our conversation, I ended up meeting another dude and, because I was just sitting with Tinker, he was willing to show me around Jordan Brand. As he was showing me around, he introduced me to Jason Mayden, and from there Mayden took me under his wing.
The first thing I learned from Mayden was crucial to getting into Nike, as well as a great life lesson overall. He started introducing me to everybody and he taught me a little trick that I still use and tell everyone to do today. Mayden said, ‘Any time you get introduced to somebody, when you meet that person, ask them to introduce you to another person.’ Simple, right? After each and every time you meet someone, e-mail them and cc that other person. From there it was basically a snowball effect. I met so many people, and fast-forward a couple of years, they are all friends and colleagues at Nike to this day.
Tell us about getting started in design when you first got to Jordan. How did your mindset evolve over time?
After the internship and getting on full-time, I started within Jordan Brand. When I first started there, I had to earn my spot—it's like playing on a basketball team. You don't get to work on the newest Jordan; you have to start at the bottom and build, but I wanted it so bad. I wanted to work on a statement product. I wanted to be a part of something bigger and better.
Early on, I would always design things and help where I could. At one point, someone else took my designs and literally presented them as their own and took full credit for it. At that time, Jason Mayden was the creative director in Jordan, and my boss. I went to him one day and was pissed. I asked how I was supposed to be able to prove what I can do when someone keeps stealing my stuff and getting credit for it? He told me one thing that stuck with me, and now I constantly tell other designers: ‘If that was your best idea or if that was the last thing that you could come up with, then your career’s pretty much over already.’ That kept me grinding and pushing to always come up with something new, always trying to evolve and stay ahead, and always still helping out where I can, because I’m not worried about running out of ideas.
So walk me through your design process. I've heard you don’t really sketch or put things on paper— you’re more of a doer. How’s that process different for you?
I can sketch, but most of the time I’d rather just make something. When I was an intern, I learned how to engineer patterns and do 3-D models. At that time, a lot of people were still sketching. But I would take a project or idea that I had and would actually make a model of it. So by the time I came to Nike full-time as a designer, I was close with the pattern makers, the stitchers, the model makers and I just started making my own projects with things I learned beforehand. So the Jordan Future, there was never a sketch of it; the SF AF1, there was never a sketch of that, either.
The funny thing is in my design reviews I’d often have to go back and draw things because people would want drawings after I already had made the sample. As far as the process, there would be stuff I designed normally, but a lot of it was also concepts and things that I had made that would sit in my desk for a year, and then seeing when the right time would come about and ask, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?
It was more like being out in the field and experiencing what’s happening and what’s culturally relevant and how do you fill the voids of things that don’t exist? The bottom of the Jordan Future was there. The Air Force 1 tooling has been around since 1982. How do you take the icons that have been successful and then reappropriate them using techniques to make them modern and relevant for today’s consumer?
How do you take the icons that have been successful and then reappropriate them using techniques to make them modern and relevant for today’s consumer?
After designing something and then putting it behind you, is it daunting to work on the next thing? What’s your mindset to prepare for the next project? You’re not thinking of making the next Jordan Future, right?
Yes and no. I don’t like sequels. I don’t even like sequels to movies, you know? [Laughs] Let that one thing be that one thing. It’s never just working on this one idea, because seasons and projects always overlap. It’s a matter of—do those things stick? Because I’ve had a lot of bad ideas, but keeping those bad ideas around, then looking at the things that were good about them, then reappropriating them to another better idea, which creates something else. I’ve had multiple times where the team would look at me crazy when I pitched something. I would shelf it, take another look, and then come back later and pitch it again, and they’d be ready for it a year or two later.
What do you think is the perfect shoe design? Does it exist?
I think the Chuck Taylor is the perfect shoe. I’ve gone hiking in Chucks, I‘ve floated the river in Chucks, I coach my kids’ baseball team in Chuck Taylors— I literally do everything in Chuck Taylors. They are still here and they still serve any function. I would either say a Chuck Taylor or the Air Jordan 1, but I would probably veer towards the Chuck Taylor.
MINDSET
You always rep Seattle to the fullest. What is it about your hometown and the Pacific Northwest that inspires you?
Seattle, where I was living at one point, was the most culturally diverse area in the country. It’s not like most cities. Washington state was one of the last places in our country to get colonized—one of the last big cities to start getting made.
The thing that’s interesting about that is there was segregation that occurred in Seattle, but the melting pot was way bigger. There was a time when I lived on the East Coast and, like, there’s literally portions of the city where it’d be, like, Latinos here, Italians here, Chinese here, Puerto Ricans here, African-Americans here, and white people here and they’re all separate.
When you live in Seattle and you can see the water, you’re really rich. If you can’t see the water from your house, then you’re either middle class or don’t have a lot of money. Seattle was a melting pot—the kids that would live on the lake would all also go to school with the kids that were in low-income housing. One time after a game, we went to a teammate’s house—this kid’s house was crazy! It was on the lake right next to Bill Gates. And then the next day we’re in an apartment where literally all you have is a few things in the fridge and [they’re] just struggling to get by.
I got exposed to both worlds really young and that has an impact on you. I use it to my advantage in seeing both sides.
INSPIRATION
Looking around the garage, you have a lot of vintage items around. What is it about these older items?
Everything that I’ve ever liked or inspired me has always been “classic.” I like things that withstand the test of time. I pretty much dress the same every day: I wear a white t-shirt and chinos. If I wear a hoodie, it’s either a gray or black. I wear plaid, but it has to be black and red or black and blue. I always want to wear things that are timeless so when my kids look at pictures of me 10 years from now, I always look current.
So what about cutting these shoes? That’s definitely a nod to a classic period in skateboarding.
With a classic outfit, I’ll throw in a few subtleties, like the cutting of the shoes. But even that is from the early ’90s skate culture. The Caballero before it was a Half Cab. One of my favorite shoes of all time is the Air Jordan 3. The thing with the AJ3 was that it wasn’t necessarily a high and it wasn’t necessarily a low, it was a mid. Some of my favorite shoes only come in either highs or lows. I cut them because I wanted my own versions. I also like the idea of things being disposable and not treating them like they are some special thing. They are sneakers. You should wear them how you want to wear them.
I cut them because I wanted my own versions. I also like the idea of things being disposable and not treating them like they are some special thing. They are sneakers. You should wear them how you want to wear them.
Ben Kirschner
What about the Chevy Impala? This is definitely a classic.
I just love a classic Impala. This one is a 1963 SS—I also have a ’65 SS and ’96 SS Impala—and as far back as sixth grade, I could remember seeing it for the first time. Just being around these cars, it was a relaxing thing that turned me into a car guy.
As far as process or inspiration goes, cars are a place to forget everything and just zone out. It’s kind of crazy, too, because when you’re driving these older cars, there’s a cruising aspect about it, but it’s not like a new car where you can completely zone out. The brakes and way the steering wheel [feels] in every single one of my Impalas are different. You can feel the car when you’re driving. It’s truly an experience. If you really know your car, you don’t need a light on the dashboard to tell you when something is wrong.
Looking at your work bench, all of these trinkets, all of these items—how do these shape your process or planning or inspiration?
Everything has a story. I could tell you the Goodwill from the city I got it, the time, the place, what was happening in my life around then. It’s a time capsule. Everything that I’ve collected has definitely inspired or influenced my process.
I feel like there’s super “clean” designers and then there’s, like, “I got a bunch of crap” designers and I’m more of the “I got a bunch of crap,” but I like to call it cool hoarding. But they all have stories. A lot of my stuff is more based on Americana. I would even argue that Air Jordans now are becoming a part of Americana, joining brands like Filson and Chevy and Converse, all the way to North Face to Nike to Supreme. All of these things started in America and are becoming a part of American culture.
Who inspires you?
B-boys. It’s a niche underground thing that isn’t as popular as it used to be, but from styles to moves to dance steps, the way that you rocked the beat, everything had to be original.
But I had my first son when I was a senior in college, and now I have three boys, and now they and my wife are probably my biggest inspirations. They make you think about life in a whole different way.
What doesn’t inspire you?
I’m not a big TV person. I’m also not a big social media guy. There’s maybe 10 people I like to see their stuff, just because it’s interesting and they’re friends, but I’m not a huge fan of social media in general. The “cool for the sake of being cool” irritates the shit out of me. People are afraid to be original, and that bothers me. It’s fake.
Like I said earlier with B-boy culture, if you show up to a battle and you’re not original, or if you have the same shoes on as somebody else, you’re frustrated, you’re mad, you’re pissed off. Whereas now, kids show up and say, ‘Yo, you got the so-and-so sneaker? Yeah, me, too.’ And the other 30 guys that are there also have them? That’s the corniest thing in the world. And I feel like it’s destroying the creative nature of not necessarily just sneaker culture, but consumer culture in general.
INTROSPECTION
Any thoughts on where sport performance, streetwear and sportswear is now, and how we can positively impact the culture?
I think that what made sports brands popular was a focus on performance and innovation and doing things different from before. I think all companies are in a weird place because they’re not pushing things to the next level. In the 80s and 90s, the different innovations around the industry were drastically different as there were so many opportunities and possibilities. Now? Trying to come up with something new is tough.
What advice would you give aspiring designers, or people that want to get into this space?
This is crazy and I’ve discussed this with many people over the years, but hear me out. If there’s a job or there is something that you want to be or do, instead of paying a crazy amount of money to go to college, go to your favorite designers, artists, whoever, and knock on their door. Figure out where they work, where the studio is and say, ‘Hey, I want to work for you and I’m going to pay you $50,000 to work with you for a year. I want to learn from you for a year.’ If you want to be successful at something and you want it bad enough, why not go to that person that you want to learn from or that you idolize and work for them?
You’ll find out quickly: ‘Do I really want to work in this industry? Do I really like what they’re doing?’ You can find that out before becoming even more in debt going to school, and you can actually learn the trade that you want to and learn it from the best person.
Now, are any of those people going to actually accept you? Who knows? But if you put a list of five together I guarantee you that one of them is going to give it thought or probably even say, ‘Hey, just come work for me for free.’ Most of them probably won’t even take your money. But that would be the odd advice I give.
Where do you see yourself in five years? In 10?
Honestly, I have no idea. I have three little boys and none of them are above 10, so hopefully bringing one to college, or helping introduce them to someone they want to learn from, going to their high school baseball or basketball games. I don’t know. I mean, from a career standpoint it’s interesting because the job that I currently have is one of the jobs that I’ve always wanted. From a goal perspective, I have worked super hard to get here and it’s really weird now that I’m in this position. That’s been my dream to work at Nike and make an impact and I’m there. So I guess what I’m doing right now is really trying to figure out what is next!
Interview by Alex Wang
Photography by Kennett Mohrman