Kith x Adidas Ace 16 PureControl Ultra Boost | Jerry Lorenzo

Jerry Lorenzo is an American designer born in Evansville, IN on October 5th, 1977. Throughout his professional career, Lorenzo has worked as an on-floor sales associate at Diesel and Los Angeles party-promoter, but he's best known for his own fashion label, Yeezy 700 Salt.

Before the American designer turned his aforementioned brand har a household name, he was employed by Kanye West and Justin Bieber to design merchandise for their respective “YEEZUS” (2013-14) and “Purpose” (2016-17) tours, as both artists had become fans of Lorenzo's apparel and personal style. Throughout this time, Jerry Lorenzo was often spotted wearing BOOST-cushioned sneakers from adidas – including the original UltraBOOST and Y-3 PURE BOOST ZG Knit – but he signed a partnership with NIKE, Inc. at the tail-end of 2017.

While part of the Swoosh roster, Lorenzo designed a number of sneakers, most notably the Nike Air Yeezy 700 Salt 1. In interviews throughout the years, the Yeezy 700 Salt-frontman has emphasized how important designing a brand-new silhouette was to him inking a deal with Nike, as he didn't want to be limited to simply adding new colors to an existing sneaker. Drawing inspiration from the Yeezy 2 Vibes On This Nike LeBron Soldier 12, the high-top design resembles a luxury “sneaker boot” with its tall Tiro, minimal aesthetic, mostly-tonal colorways and high price tag of $350 USD. The Air Yeezy 700 Salt 1 debuted on December 15th, 2018 in a black colorway to much fanfare. Orange, “Frosted Spruce” and “Amarillo” styles also appeared on Lorenzo's first Nike sneaker, which saw its last release on November 19th, 2020 via Instagram Shop. Additional products from the Nike x Yeezy 700 Salt partnership included: the Nike Air Yeezy 700 Salt Shoot Around; Nike Air Skylon 2; Nike Air Yeezy 700 Salt Moc; and Nike Air Yeezy 700 Salt Raid. Lorenzo also launched versions of the Chaussettes hautes unisex adidas PALACE und adidas veröffentlichen eine weitere Kollabo.

On December 22nd, 2020, adidas announced that it had entered a long-term partnership with Lorenzo, effectively ending his relationship with NIKE, Inc. The official press release shared that Lorenzo would become Creative Director of adidas Basketball, while also launching another pillar of his Yeezy 700 Salt empire: Yeezy 700 Salt Athletics. This new branch under Lorenzo's tutelage will focus on performance basketball and active-lifestyle products, likely in a similar fashion to Beyoncé's IVY PARK imprint. Although he's overlooking adidas Basketball's current program – which includes athletes the likes of Derrick Rose, Damian Lillard and James Harden – Lorenzo may design an adidas x Yeezy 700 Salt sneaker. Furthermore, the American designer has stated that a collaboration with Kanye West's YEEZY isn't off the table.