PORTLAND, Ore. — Nike has teamed up with Portland animation studio LAIKA in its latest sneaker collaboration.
The sneakers celebrate LAIKA’s newest film, “Missing Link.” Famed Nike designer Tinker Hatfield, with the help of former animator Michael Berger and LAIKA costume designer Deborah Cook, created the Missing Link x Nike Air Max Susan.
The film follows the story of Mr. Link and a quest to discover the creature’s ancestry.
“The Air Max 1 has always been a really uplifting, happy design. When I saw the film, I immediately felt Mr. Link was instantly lovable — he's happy-go-lucky, the type to stop and smell the flowers. So, he's got a certain chill that for me made sense with the silhouette,” said Hatfield.
The sneaker’s design includes the materials and textures of Mr. Link’s plaid suit, according to Nike. The shoes play to Mr. Link’s roots in the Pacific Northwest. Photos
Photos: Missing Link x Nike Air Max Susan
“This is also evident in the shoe's leather-wrapped midsole, cuff links and kurim fur tufts on the tongue that lend a gleefully haphazard elegance to the silhouette,” Nike said in a news release.
Nike has collaborated with LAIKA to create sneakers before, but the Missing Link x Nike Air Max Susan will be the first to release to the public.
The sneakers will release April 9 on the Nike SNKRS App for $170.
“Missing Link” arrives in theaters April 12.
