How Jewell Loyd and a Cal student created her custom Nike kicks

USA Today

11 hours ago

How Jewell Loyd and a Cal student created her custom Nike kicks
Last summer, the Seattle Storm shared a three-photo carousel of now Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd wearing a pair of vibrant shoes. "Kicks in color," the caption read, with fitting paint canvas and shoe emojis.
Loyd -- who has never shied away from donning unique footwear -- was wearing a yet-to-be-released player edition (PE) of Nike Zoom GT Cut 3s. A quick scroll through the carousel revealed shoes covered in paint splatters ― an eye-catching color cornucopia ― and a design that Loyd says was intentional.
"I wanted it to be controlled chaos," Loyd told For The Win about her PEs. "That's what, in a way, basketball and life is. Right? You go through ups and downs all the time, and it's still a beauty of it. As much as we want to try to control the narratives, sometimes you really cant. But, you still gotta go with the flow."
The beauty of the story told with Loyd's shoe design is that it wasn't just hers; it also belonged to California Golden Bears guard Jayda Noble, the sister of Loyd's former Storm teammate Gabby Williams. Noble, an athlete and budding artist, met Loyd at her first art show several years back. The Illinois native eventually purchased several pieces of Noble's work. However, the relationship didn't end with the purchases. Loyd soon had a special request."Jewel randomly hit me one day like ― I was on my way to play [Washington State University] ― and she sent me like a blank GT cut template," Noble shared with For The Win. "I was like, 'Oh, cool. What is this?' She's like, "Oh, they're GT cuts,' and she's like, 'Can you just use pink and blues and yellows? Whatever colors you want. And send me five to six designs by tomorrow.'"
Noble was understandably stunned by Loyd's ask. She'd never designed shoes before, let alone a project for a professional athlete. The young creative admitted she wasn't quite prepared for the moment. "I am a broke college student. I have colored pencils in my bag, and I will do my best," she said, chuckling while reflecting on the opportunity. But the Cal guard delivered.
She crafted several mockups for Loyd, including a last-minute colorful, abstract concept that she decided to toss in. Unbeknownst to Noble, Loyd selected the eleventh-hour design and had it made into a PE with Nike. However, she says she thought the Storm's June 2024 Instagram post was the end of it. She'd created a special PE exclusively for Jewell Loyd, and that was it ― until a photo days later left her befuddled.
Noble was in practice when a teammate pulled up a photo of Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole, wearing the design she designed for Loyd. She blurted, "What the ..." before pausing to self-censor. Then, she continued: "... are you talking about? What are you talking about?"
Poole would eventually become one of many players from across the sports landscape to wear the PEs Noble designed for Loyd, a list that includes Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday and USC Trojans guard Talia von Oelhoffen. Loyd revealed that the success of her PE designs, including the one with Noble, might not have been possible without support from Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving.
"You know, obviously, I'm very appreciative of [Kyrie]. Kyrie was the first one to kind of give me the opportunity to do that with his shoe when he was with Nike, and that one was amazing." Loyd explained. "I had two with him to kind of allow me to keep doing this when Nike sees there's bigger things and more stories to tell."
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Irving may have been the conduit for helping Loyd's shoes come to life, but companies like Nike, which have been leaning into developing more athletic wear for women athletes, are also part of the story. In recent years, other WNBA stars like New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, Aces forward A'ja Wilson and Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark all have a signature shoe that has been released or is planned for the future. They've also created several PEs through their shoe and clothing partnerships.
Loyd surmises that it's because the opportunities are finally available for women
"I think women in general is just an untapped market," she said. "Men have been getting opportunities for years, and now we're getting the same opportunities, and we can see that they're taking full advantage of it."
"Obviously, with A'ja [Wilson's] shoe ― her commercial ― all these things, right?" she continued. "You're able to see: given the same opportunities, we're able to prosper, and I think that's really beauty and just the growth of the sport, the growth of women and their confidence, but also the creativeness that we have as well."