Since meeting in New York City nearly a decade ago, Carmelo Anthony and rag & bone Co-Founder and CEO Marcus Wainwright have formed a close friendship centered around their love for fashion. Anthony has starred in numerous rag & bone campaigns, and now they’ve become official design partners on a Jordan Brand collaboration capsule.
Sneakerheads since their youth, Anthony and Wainwright wanted to approach their collaboration differently than most. Rather than choosing an earlier retro model, the duo decided on the Air Jordan 20, a silhouette they both agreed is underrated. “I think that it was a bit ahead of its time, but the shoe was always cool,” says Anthony. “This is a shoe I liked when I saw it, but it didn’t get its fair moment. I wanted to bring it back, rework it and re-introduce it to the market.”
Wainwright shared Anthony’s sentiment and was careful to balance rag & bone’s design philosophy with Anthony’s personal style, while still honoring the shoe’s original look. “I wanted to take something that was essentially iconic, but make it current, maintain the originality of it,” Wainwright says.