story

Hey, what's up everyone? I'm Futura. I'm here with my good friend Eric Koston. What's up E? How are you doing? I am Eric Koston.

There he is. Skateboarder. Yep. Of Nike SB. What are we doing here? We're here talking about the new SB's. Eric's rocking the GR. I got the F & F, Futura FL, Nike SB.

I'm an artist from New York. I got my start writing my name on walls in a bid for self identity and creative expression.

That was about 50, 60 years ago. So, certainly come a long way. Something I think we would recognize is that whether it's skateboard culture, graffiti, you know, being outdoors, you know, doing your thing. I mean, it's...

…it's different. You guys express yourself differently, but it's the same thing. Finding your, your place in the world, showing your sort of your self-expression. We both use similar canvas, right? Well, the deck is like your medium. Mm-Hmm.Yeah. And then we're using traditional…

…artist tools or you know, spray can or what have you. Marker. You know, we all have that sensibility, right? Yeah. About style, you know, I mean, art’s…

…applicable wherever it can find its audience. I started in the mid 80's skating, so yeah, there was no park accessible. Yeah, there weren't parks. Sure. We had to…

...we had to go empty swimming pools or we'd go skate downtown and skate stairs, ledges, find banks. You skated everything, but you just had to go out there and find it.

This drop, this particular SB at the moment we're here for, it's a kind of an answer to the Paris Dunk. A beautiful model in the history of SB Designs.

My mindset was, well, I would really love to see one of my paintings on a shoe. These are paintings from the 80s, Eric. They are. Yeah. So it's like...

...going into my past, looking at some old work of mine. And the blue pair. I think it's really the colors. It's a nice blend, I think of, negative space and the artwork and the execution was...

...amazing. And so the final product represents that. 
Let's also talk about your relationship with Mark Parker, how that began and how it...

…came to this opportunity. Maybe 2001, he came to our studio in Brooklyn, New York. He was carrying my book. He said, "Hey, Futura, hi.

Got your book here. I was wondering would you, would you sign it for me?" And I was like, "Oh, nice to meet you. Yes, of course." We had a little conversation. He left. He gave me his card. That's when I met Sandy for the first time and I met Tinker for the first time...

...and got a chance to, you know, really be in awe of what Nike was. Sandy's the one who absolutely bought these worlds together.Thats right, he was instrumental.

...in the creation of the FLOM. And it was the beginning of Nike recognizing this street community that existed.

That was a wonderful moment. And Mark and I built a great relationship. Yeah. Which lasted. And, last year...

Mark said to me , as he's always been so kind, "Hey Lenny, you know, is there anything we can do?" Told him about the Paris dunk and my feelings about that and how...

...enough time had passed now it would be wonderful. Yeah. If I could get back into the SB silhouette. Yeah. He said, yeah, let's make it happen. I'm just so happy that...

...you know, Nike allowed me, you know, back in that SB door. And like I said, we're here in Sandy's, space and I feel, the need to...

...you know, be grateful. I'm Eric Koston. That's Futura. We just did Behind the Design on the Nike SB Futura Dunk Low. on the SNKRS app.

Behind the Design: Nike SB Dunk Low x Futura Laboratories'White and Geode Teal'