LeBron James took his talents to West Africa.
Well, sort of.
King James, 36, collaborated with Ghanaian-born designer Mimi Plange to develop his dynamic new LeBron XVIII Low x Mimi Plange “Higher Learning” shoe line for Nike.
Plange, who was born in Ghana and raised in Southern California, is a superstar in the fashion world. Her designs have been worn by the likes of former first lady Michelle Obama, Rihanna and Gabrielle Union, who follow her on Instagram. And Plange’s designs were worn in Eddie Murphy’s Coming 2 America as part of the team headed by Oscar winner Ruth E. Carter.
She was able to translate King James’ vision of a new shoe design into reality. Its inspiration is derived from the “iconic varsity style,” Atlanta Black Star reports, and comes in four different color patterns that have “social meaning as a status symbol and as a carrier for identity.”
Plange told Nike that she is elated to expand her African-inspired fashion sense onto a different canvas than she’s accustomed to.
“It’s amazing to shine a light where there hasn’t been enough light: bringing more voices into design,” Plange told Nike according to Atlanta Black Star. “Having the space to speak a sense of self through design carries a lot of power.”
Plange, who’s become a household name in the fashion world, talks told Face2Face Africa in 2019 from where her incredible creativity emanates.
“I’m inspired by African body art and body modification, and what I like to do is take that and make something really modern and something new with it. I do American sportswear, but it’s mixed with influences from traditional history,” she said. “More like body scarifications on the face or geometries or architecture. All of those things mixed together.”
