It was the first time A'ja Wilson saw a physical sample of her first signature shoe, the A'One. She turned the shoe over in her hands. Ben Nethongkome, the shoe's designer, saw tears well up in her eyes. "I promised I wouldn't cry", she joked to Nethongkome. She wore her excitement openly, unguarded.
"A'ja is one of the most honest, original, expressive players I've ever worked with", says Nethongkome. "In designing her shoe, she's never brought anything less than her honest point of view. That's exactly the kind of feedback you need when you collaborate on a design with an athlete".
That expressive honesty is core to A'ja's shoe, but also to her life, her game and her relationship with Nike. She joined the brand after turning pro in 2018. She became the face of Nike Basketball's Cosmic Unity line, building a rapport with designers like Nethongkome. She quickly established her voice as an athlete who was comfortable giving clear feedback on what was working in a particular product, and importantly, what wasn't. The brand encouraged her to share more. In 2022, she was invited to be a member of Nike's Athlete Think Tank, a group of professional athletes who are encouraged to give unfiltered feedback on how the brand can better support women athletes.
"A'ja is one of the most honest, original, expressive players I've ever worked with. In designing her shoe, she's never brought anything less than her honest point of view. That's exactly the kind of feedback you need when you collaborate on a design with an athlete".
Ben Nethongkome, Nike footwear designer
Nike Footwear Designer Ben Nethongkome and A'ja during an early development sessions at Nike's World Headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.
"You have to be real with people, and that comes from being confident", says A'ja. "Any time I'm doubtful, I remind myself of my identity. Waking up, I gotta be like, 'Girl, you're blessed, you're A'ja. Go take care of business'. I'm fully equipped to feel how I feel and execute my game plan in life".
On court, her game shimmers with a take-charge aura. A ball leaving her fingertips on a turnaround jumper still is traced with her confidence as it rotates towards the rim. Her signature shoe, then, had to be canvassed with that self-belief.
Nethongkome and his team spoke at length with A'ja about what technical qualities she needed in the A'One. She was clear that comfort and support were key for her, as those qualities would support her on-court versatility at both ends. No gimmicks. So, the midsole combo needed to do a little bit of everything. A Cushlon SLT midsole balances a plush ride with a responsive court feel, while a firmer foam carrier is wrapped around the outside to help brace A'ja's footwork against hard cuts. A lateral TPU outrigger helps keeps her over the footbed.
Like A'ja herself, authenticity is at the heart of the shoe. It was in the refinement of the upper where Nethongkome watched A'ja show up to design meetings as her most animated self. Nethongkome describes meeting Wilson in Los Angeles a few years ago. The team kitted out a studio entirely with mood boards, inspirational images, swatch samples and more, from ceiling to floor. Rather than wait for their cue, A'ja took the reins. She held tiny material swatches and compared palette combinations. She sifted through images of natural objects that held important metaphorical meaning for her, like clamshells containing a precious pearl. She talked out loud as she held neutral colours to the room's light—not just a grey, but a specific grey, the grey she'd like to use someday for her wedding day.
"It's not uncommon for athletes to be a little bashful during a design work session, because design feedback isn't necessarily in their wheelhouse", says Nethongkome. "Not A'ja. Her energy was infectious. Actually, her enthusiasm also helped some of our more bashful designers open up, too, because no comment was off the table".
Her honesty deepened the expressive detailing layered into the A'One. One of the review sessions last year involved travelling four hours north on I-5 to meet Wilson in Seattle, who was attending a concert later that night. Wearing a short-sleeve top, A'ja sported a new tattoo design above her right tricep, which Nethongkome noticed. A'ja explained that the intricate symbols were Celtic characters representing her parents' names, Roscoe and Eva.
Nethongkome asked, Can we add some of these family details into the shoe's design? The Celtic script was later incorporated into the shoe's inside tongue. Her late grandmother, Hattie, is memorialised through inspirational quotes on the outsole. The upper's pearl motifs are directly influenced by the pearl necklace she gave A'ja when she was a child. A'ja's willingness to share, with sincerity, created a two-way exchange that transformed the shoe into a more personal memento, one that narrated Wilson's closest connections, ambitions and goals.
"When athletes wear my shoe or any of the pieces from my collection, I want them to feel the power behind that logo: the power to dream big, then put in the work—in style and confidence", A'ja says.
"You have to be real with people, and that comes from being confident. Any time I'm doubtful, I remind myself of my identity. I gotta be like, 'Girl, you're blessed, you're A'ja. Go take care of business'".
A'ja Wilson, three-time WNBA MVP
Speaking of goals, A'ja describes the innate accountability that comes along with being a signature athlete, with her own shoe. The products need to be bigger than her, she says, because her legacy in basketball needs to be about more than her personal success. While indelibly personal, the shoe had to relate to all backgrounds, all skill levels, from the most skilled pro to the novice who's picking up a ball for the first time.
"Going after this legacy I'm chasing, to be the best, is a huge responsibility", she says. "But something I've always wanted to be about is for fans to see me as a real person. We can sit down and have a normal conversation. I'm chasing this goal, but I'm not on this unapproachable pedestal. We can be real with each other".
A'ja's brought nothing but realness to the A'One. Sometimes, that includes some playful banter, even the occasional dare. A few rounds before she saw the final version—the meeting when she got tears in her eyes—the team pulled a prototype from the bag that was a typical sample size, a men's 8. She was emphatic. "That's it", she said. "I'm wearing these tomorrow".
Then she smiled. "Try to stop me".