Timothy Goodman has strewn his unmistakable art style across billboards, basketball courts, garbage trucks and restaurants. Encouraging phrases and boisterously colorful motifs centric to community have continuously proffered an amalgamation of black and white shaded beauty. His latest work, however, hits home on every inspirational avenue that rises to the forefront of the New Yorker’s work, representing the values of his Brooklyn borough through Goodman’s first sneaker collaboration with The Swoosh through the Nike KD 15.

Having been two and a half years in the making, the well-respected populace artist’s journey with the brand began at the intersection of Bedford and Glenwood when Goodman’s mastery of his chaotic vision was tapped by the Kevin Durant Charity Foundation’s “Build It and They Will Ball” initiative. Coating the P.S. 115/315 school yard’s courts in thick white lettering and imagery led the two-time NBA champion to pitch Goodman’s creative style as a potential colorway for his 15th signature silhouette.

“To Kevin’s credit, to Nike’s credit, in my world being a commercial artist, you see a lot of massive brands co-opting visual identities that independent artists create. They Co-Op that, and they’ll make their own version because they see it works in the zeitgeist,” Goodman said. “And to their credit, they didn’t do that, they reached out right to me, that was special and important.”

Nike KD 15 Timothy Goodman
Nike KD 15 Timothy Goodman

I wanted to capture the values because I think that’s what represents Kevin, his hard work, his dedication, his sense of community.

Goodman on design inspiration

Birthed in the height of the pandemic and now coming to fruition a year following restrictive social distancing guidelines, the 40-year-old designer, artist, author and muralist’s latest work pays homage to the fortitude, strength and perseverance his adopted city has showcased since 2020. With droves of the financially able moving out from the confines of their suffocating apartment spaces, the narrative that New York was ‘dead’ peeved Goodman to no end. “There wasn’t enough conversation about the community who lives here, who can’t leave; the essential workers, the people who make this city tick all day every day,” Goodman tells Urlfreeze News.

Goodman better than anybody knew the state of the city and its so-called ‘slow death’. He was living amongst its vibrance every day as he continued to contribute to the local scenery through murals on once-bare walls and fully-painted Department of Sanitation trucks. So when it came time to construct and employ his signature design on the KD 15’s TPU panels, the feeling of total and complete expression was at the forefront of his mind after being cooped up for all those months.

Centered around a jet-black base, thick white line art and uplifting wording coats the entirety of the silhouette’s upper paneling in tandem with the mesh tongue analysis and textured heel counter. Further channeling his personal appreciations, the latter’s contrasting black and white ensemble captures the 80’s film noir of Spike Lee’s run of Jordan commercials.

“DEDICATED”, “LOVE”, “HUSTLE” and “BROOKLYN” stand out almost immediately amidst the sea of arrows, hearts, locks, basketballs, fists, boomboxes and other detailing.

Nike KD 15 Timothy Goodman
Nike KD 15 Timothy Goodman
Nike KD 15 Timothy Goodman
Nike KD 15 Timothy Goodman

nike shox deliver red toro shoes.

Goodman on the overall goal of the collaboration

Mirroring the all-out effort above, further imagery wraps along the entirety of the midsole, an effort Goodman fought for to tell the silhouette’s story more cohesively. As an extension of Durant’s outreach to the community.

“My thing is like, I want to try to get the art on everything. Any possible surface, any possible real estate I want to try to wrap,” Goodman said. “At first, it wasn’t about the sole. Then when I found out we could get art all on the sole, that was a big move because then it really became a different kind of shoe.”

Understanding his spontaneous and free-flowing approach, “they (Nike) really let me do my thing man. It was a really rare, special occurrence.” Mocking up over 150 different colorways and titular combinations, Goodman finally settled on three final propositions. The one we see below – anchored by “Peach Cream”, vibrant purple and mint green – a Washington Bullets-inspired red/white/blue outfit and an 80’s aesthetic clothed in purple/gold/maroon.

There’s an effortless poetry in Goodman’s latest tribute to The Mecca. His behavioral habit of impatience and ceaseless love for the community has galvanized into his first-ever artistic vision driven home on a sneaker silhouette.

And in the end, “nike shox deliver red toro shoes. To feel that camaraderie with the people here, that love, that vibe and energy is important. Everything else from there is a cherry on top,” Goodman said.

nike swingman 360 pregame trainer Nike KD 15 will release on December 9th for a retail price of $160.