Under Armour Curry One
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In the basketball category, I think signature sneaker designs were particularly weak across the board for the year. Performance qualities aside, in my estimation most of 2015’s signature sneakers landed in one of two categories from a design standpoint. Either they have too many disjointed details and lack cohesiveness, as is the case for the Lebron XIII and KD 8, or like the Kobe X, they’re too simple and lack distinctive design characteristics that make them memorable as time passes. Somewhere in between the two ends of that spectrum lies the Under Armour Curry One.
It’s hard to deny that Stephen Curry is the most influential player in the game of basketball right now. He’s relatable, he’s said and done everything right on his path to greatness, and it certainly helps that he almost doesn’t miss from anywhere on the court. And while I don’t think the Curry One is a truly transcendent beginning to a signature line, it’s very clear that some combination of Steph’s play on the court and the design and performance of the sneaker has translated to huge success for Under Armour with the model.
It almost didn’t matter which colorway released; once Steph and the Warriors heated up on the road to their championship the shoes flew off the shelves. But popularity alone doesn’t make a sneaker worthy of top-ten consideration. The Curry One is well-designed, released in almost entirely well-executed colorways, and performs well on the court. On top of that, he was the MVP and won an NBA Championship while wearing it, giving it a status not achieved by any other inaugural signature sneaker. I’m partial to the “Away” makeup, but the MVP colorway will be the one to remember when we look back in a few years.
Mike Guillory
Aaron Nojima