Connor Renwick: The Jordan Why Not Zer0.1 Mirror Image

Friday, January 5, 2018

The Jordan Why Not Zer0.1 Mirror Image

Noting the gap in talent, the outcome of Wednesday night’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder seemed like a foregone conclusion. But amongst sneakerheads there was another reason to tune into the game: whether reigning NBA league MVP Russell Westbrook would be playing in his newly designed signature shoes for the Nike Jordan Brand.

Though OKC would indeed blowout the Lakers, the game did deliver on the new sneaker front, with Russell Westbrook playing three quarters donning his new Jordan Why Not Zer0.1 Mirror Image.

Named in reflection and comparison between Michael Jordan’s (in)famous resolute intensity of yesteryear alongside the dogged breakneck effort of Westbrook’s play today, the top expanse of the Mirror Image is embellished – from its heel counter to vamp to toe tip – in service of its namesake with a collage of cutout imagery of both players executed in nostalgic Mars Blackmon-era style.

A full length Zoom Air unit hides beneath the special semi-transparent outsole of the Jordan Why Not Zer0.1 Mirror Image.

Laces are kept hidden and secure under an ankle wrap hiding its internal lacing system, one inspired by the Air Jordan VI.

Stripped of graphics and flourishes of red and gray, the monochromatic “2-Way” colorway version of the Jordan Why Not Zer0.1 paints clearer memories of earlier Jordan sneaker silhouettes, with perhaps even the faint memory of the industrial-automotive lines of Kobe Bryant’s adidas Crazy 1.

The intent of speed and verticality is represented by the curvature and transition between the white compression-molded pylon foam midsole to the jagged “grilled” heel structure.

Our favorite detail: the architectural structure of the heels, reminiscent of Santiago Calatrava’s Alamillo Bridge from the side and a creature with far many more legs than any NBA player from the back.