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How I Got Here: Zak Kyes
Graphic designer and creative director Zak Kyes has brought ideas to life for publications, cultural institutions, and modern day visionaries like Frank Ocean and Virgil Abloh. He talks to us about his journey 09/03/2021 10:00 am
When your design practice entails facilitating the vision of leading creatives, at some point the parameters shift to reveal that you yourself are shaping culture.
In 2005, Swiss-American designer and creative director Zak Kyes founded his eponymous design studio Zak Group and, during his tenure at the helm, the studio has led projects for a remarkable blend of figures and institutions at the forefront of creativity.
Clocking in at over 352 pages, the book traces the creative history of these designs, taking the reader through the process for each model from concept to prototype to finished product. Aiming to give a holistic overview of the collaboration,
ICONS also includes original text messages between Abloh and Nike designers as well as raw material from the Nike archives, all contextualised within the history of sneaker culture.
“Virgil Abloh elevates sneakers into the realm of visual culture where they become cultural objects,” says Zak Kyes, founder of London-based studio Zak Group which partnered with Abloh for the design of the book. Kyes, who shares a background in architecture with Abloh, was introduced to the designer through mutual friends and the two first started talking about the book at the end of 2018.
‘Icons’ by Virgil Abloh and Nike celebrates the design history of ‘The Ten’
‘Icons’ by Virgil Abloh and Nike celebrates the design history of ‘The Ten’
As rumours swirl around the release of ‘The 20’, Virgil Abloh and Nike release the Taschen-published tome ‘Icons’, which charts the making of the creative polymath and American sportswear giant’s sneaker collaboration ‘The 10’
‘Icons’, by Virgil Abloh and Nike. Published by Taschen
Virgil Abloh is famed for his harnessing of digital culture, designing via WhatsApp, creating dialogues through social media, and using the online world as a tool for democratising fashion and the elite luxury landscape. But for the the multi-hyphenate creative’s latest project, a compendium charting the design history of ‘The Ten’, his famed 2016-born trainer collaboration with Nike, he looked to the power of the printed page.