story

"Hey, you guys. Welcome to The Process. I'm your host, Bianca, also known as ImSimplyB. Today, I'm joined by the women of Air Max. We have Brianna, Milana, and Juliana."

"Hi, I'm Brianna Ross, and I'm currently a Product Line Manager, or PLM, for Purpose Footwear, which celebrates our BIPOC and queer communities like Be True and N7, and I'm also an Air Max alum."

"I'm Milana Lewis-Zakuto. I'm an Associate Product Line Manager on Men's Air Max. Hi, I'm Juliana Sagat. I'm a Footwear Designer for the Lifestyle Women's Team, and also Catalyst Team. I'm originally from Paris, France."

"We're going to start out with Chapter One, which is all about the Air Max origin. How important is it for you, and how did it influence your career path, Milana?"

"My first Air Max led me to my first job working in sneakers. So I walked into the store and I was like 'Oh, these are absolutely dope, so I have to have them.' Then I went back a couple weeks later and applied and got the job."

"What about for you ladies, was there an Air Max for you, Juliana, that was an inspiration? Well, actually for me it was this one, the Air Max Plus from 1998."

"I grew up in Europe during the '90s and back then, like Air Max was a big cultural phenomenon. It was like literally everywhere."

"So Chapter Two is all about your career journeys. How exactly did you ladies end up in the roles that you are today?"

"For me, I started in a different function than Product Management, which was a Developer. Transitioning into my PLM role, I did have mentors that helped and were really critical in that pivot."

"Chapter Three is all about Air Max projects. Exactly what would be the collaborative process? So we always start with a 'why,' the new opportunity, and an insight."

"So many people touch the product. There's a full Design Team: Industrial Designer, which is Juliana; you have a Color Designer; you have a Material Designer. You have your common goal, and everyone's aligned in moving towards that."

"Let's go into Chapter Four and talk about the future of Air Max. Within the concept of product design, what does reinvention mean to you?"

"I'm thinking about inclusivity actually, because I feel like Furyosa was a great starting point, just to sell her better, but now, it's more about how can we create actually new innovation, but thinking about this specific consumer."

"So there's a couple of angles too that you could look at, is thinking, innovating specifically for women and stories that haven't been told, but..."

"It's also about just being inclusive with the sizing. There are some things that we love that were created by men, and we want to wear it too."

"Like you said, the sneaker space and especially Air Max's, it's definitely male-driven, right? So why do you find that it's important to change that narrative? If you don't see somebody that's like you, you don't know what's possible…"

"And so we all are kind of a testament of what that is, and that makes this next person that's watching this understand that it's possible for them."

"This is The Process. Happy Air Max Month! Be sure to tune into the SNKRS App because there's so much more coming, and see you guys on Air Max Day."

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