Quai 54 x Jordan Brand • 2020 Product Design Collaboration
Product Design
Partner: Jordan Brand
Creative Direction: Thibaut de Longeville
Art Direction & Design: Alexander Wise
360 Creative has been involved with the Jordan Brand-sponsored Quai 54 World Streetball Championship since day one, starting in 2003. We created the tournament’s visual identity, designed to enable the venture to evolve from an annual event into a brand of its own.
Our design department collaborated with Jordan Brand to create the 2020 Jordan x Quai 54 footwear and apparel collection. We co-designed a full capsule collection including t-shirts, jerseys, hoodies, shorts, headwear, a special ‘friends & family’ tracksuit and 5 footwear styles.
In continuation of the Africa-inspired graphic language we started developing around the Quai 54’s 15th Anniversary, we drew inspiration from traditional “Bogolan” fabric patterns of West Africa for the 2020 collection. We sampled and remixed the forms and color palettes of traditional Bogolan designs into a custom Quai 54 wordmark, a bespoke graphic pattern and a modern and dynamic color pattern to be used across all items of the collection.
Jordan x Quai 54 Footwear
The 2020 Air Jordan x Quai 54 footwear collection included two styles of the Air Jordan VI Quai 54, the Air Jordan 1 Low Quai 54, the Jordan Quai 54 Team Elevate as well as the Jordan Quai 54 Break Slide.
We worked hand in hand with the Jordan design team on how to use our design package on the footwear designs, alternating between two versions of our bespoke graphic pattern. We also collaborated on materials choices and confection techniques, opting for rarely used canvas panels, premium garment leather and jump stitching for an organic look & feel.
Jordan x Quai 54 Apparel
We created the graphics featured on the entire apparel collection, and collaborated with the Jordan team to design some of the cut & sow standouts such as the 1990s-inspired Jordan tracksuit featuring large panels with our graphic pattern.
Celebrity adoption
The Quai 54 x Air Jordan footwear and apparel pieces were seen on high-profile athletes, entertainers and influencers throughout the globe such as 3X Olympic Champion / 10x NBA All-Star / Portland Trailblazers forward Carmelo Anthony, NBA All-Star / Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, 2018 Soccer World Champion / PSG forward Kylian M’Bappé, and more.
“Giving Back to Paris” Jordan x Quai 54 unboxing
The Quai 54 event could not happen in 2020 in the context of the global Covid-19 pandemic, but the most dedicated organizations and the most passionate young players were still out crafting their skills wherever it was authorized, whether in selected gyms or on outdoor courts throughout Paris.
A week before the collection release, the Quai 54 teams -in collaboration with Jordan Brand and Yard agency- went around Paris and its suburbs to connect with local grassroots organizations and coordinate a giant “unboxing” of the collection, offering exclusive product to the real MVPs: 150 kids chosen amongst the most promising basketball players and community activists.
Although the Quai 54 event did not happen in 2020, the Jordan x Quai 54 2020 collection was the most successful Jordan x Quai 54 product collaboration to date.
