Skate savant Erik Ellington knows a thing or two about sneaker design. Enjoying a long tenure as co-founder and team rider, Ellington later dropped in on the high-stakes game of luxury footwear, establishing the Los Angeles-based imprint Human Recreation Services.
Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Ellington collaborated with sportswear titan to develop their very first skate shoe: the EEPRO1. Inspired by retro basketball and running models, the highly technical EEPRO1 is still carving it up in 2022, thanks to its signature BOOM midsoles and steady run of stellar colourways.
We hooked up with the globe-grinding nomad to chat about designing the perfect skate shoe.
How did the partnership with Li-Ning develop?
In late 2019, the Li-Ning team reached out to see if I was interested in collaborating with them on their intro into skateboarding. They were familiar with me and the brands I’d worked with, so they saw it as a good fit. I had known about Li-Ning, so it was mutual respect. Having the opportunity to give creative input and present my viewpoint on skateboarding was an exciting idea. A few weeks after we talked, I travelled to Beijing to meet the team in person to see how we clicked.
What inspired the EEPRO1?
I’ve always liked the idea of a skate shoe that didn’t look like it was intentionally designed for skateboarding. The inspiration for this shoe came from basketball, running and tennis references from the 1990s and early 2000s that I liked. It also came from the inspiration of the skaters that I looked up to when I was younger and what they wore, which had a pretty big influence on the design of this shoe.
Break down the design process for us.
Shortly after I left Beijing, the pandemic hit, so the design process took place over video calls and emails. Since I had just met everyone in person a few months prior, it worked out pretty easily.
We had sketched up a few different versions of the first Ellington shoe, and went back and forth on some design tweaks, then started the prototypes. From there, we made some small adjustments to materials and then started to pick colourways that we all liked. All in all, the process went pretty quickly, and we had completed samples in about 6 months.
How much freedom did Li-Ning allow you in the design?
Quite a bit. I went out to Beijing to meet everyone in November 2019. I brought in references and ideas of a direction, and we got to work immediately. We got to know each other on that trip, and that helped with how we would eventually work remotely together. I was very happy with how symbiotic the process was and the result of our first project together.
How long does it take to test out a new skate shoe before you or Li-Ning give the green light?
You can know almost immediately from the first time you try on the prototype. It can take a few weeks to completely understand how the layers wear or break down. After that, input from other people to see how it wears on different foot shapes, corrections if needed, and then it’s pretty much a green light after that.
Have you had a chance to dig into Chinese skate culture?
Yeah, but not as much as I’d like to since we haven’t been able to travel there. Over the years of touring China, I’ve met some of the OGs out there. Leehawk and Kit from HKit, Julien from Jbsfive. I’ve known them for a while, and they’ve been holding it down for as long as I can remember. Stephen Khou and sk8 Jeremy in Shanghai. Che Lin and Sk8boss are a few I’ve got to meet through Instagram and working with Li-Ning. I’m looking forward to when I can finally go there, chill with everyone, skate, and get to know it better.
Where are skate shoes at in 2022?
It’s mixed right now. Classic vulcanised and technical sneakers are all out there being rocked with good style. In my opinion, skate shoe fashion is in the coolest place right now. There’s room for everything as long as it’s functional.
I love designing technical skate sneakers, which wouldn’t have been possible five years ago because the trends were low profile and simple. I like having fun with layers, materials, and colours.
I also see a lot of the fashion houses referencing 90s and early 2000s tech skate sneakers, which is nice to see when the credit is given to where the influence came from.
I think that upcoming skate shoes will have more technical styles that reference older designs but with a nice balance between tech and performance.
Dreams for the collaboration moving forward?
There’s a lot. I’m looking forward to bringing the skate team to China to visit the Li-Ning design and product teams in person. That will feel good after three years of working over zoom.
Skating around the streets and taking everything in – learning more about the skate culture in China. Showing the skaters that come with me some of what I’ve learned along the way so they can get a head start on what took me 20 years to learn about production and design.
I would love to collaborate with Li-Ning on skateparks to help get more kids access to skating there. Li-Ning has such a massive presence that we can accomplish so much.
Skateboarding is newly accepted there, and I think it’s exciting to see where this next generation takes it. Showing the older generations that skateboarding is a productive, innovative, and empowering art form that can be a platform for learning how to take your life in any direction you choose to take it.