NIKE | AIR JORDAN | SNEAKER REMIX

Remix as an idea is an increasingly important cultural phenomenon that is often conflated with notions of open intellectual property protections and free access/use of the designs creative people and firms generate.  That is, support for a culture of remix is generally thought to necessitate increasingly lenient administering of IP protections. 

However, recent sneaker designs by Nike contradict this sentiment; remixing iconic sneaker elements to generate new looks that borrow from the past, while offering genuinely new product for “sneakerheads” to collect and sport on the street or basketball court.  All incorporated design elements are contained within Nike’s formidable library of protected designs, while the creative approach remains true to the ethic of remix.  In an economy of ideas we must be careful to differentiate between the development approaches we admire, and the necessary legal protections that these processes require.  “Open” and “free” are not requisite principles to the cultivation of remix culture.  They do not foster innovation in every situation.  Moreover, as our national economy becomes more dependent on the development and profitability of ideas, we must be sure to imbue designs with protections that enable their continued financial productivity for their parent firms.  In the design of the these sneakers, Nike shows us how a hugely successful and immense (in size) firm can adapt recent cultural developments to the goals of an iconic American corporation.

This is creative economy.

JNOMICS