Storytelling plays a big role in the latest signature sneaker from New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu.
Sabrina Ionescu’s signature shoe line has seen tremendous success despite its relative infancy in the sneaker game, with the uniqueness of the pairs as unisex shoes allowing it to be more adaptable to any wearer around the world.
As sports brand Nike collaborates with the New York Liberty guard for the all-new Sabrina 3, innovation in the technology is merged along with the desire to remain consistent and deliver Ionescu’s messaging in an all-new sneaker that is just the right balance of improvement and familiarity.
Ben Nethongkome, who is the lead designer for all Ionescu’s shoes, said that they wanted to stay true to what hoopers enjoyed from the two earlier versions of the Sabrina.
“We talked about consistency a lot as we started the journey on the 3 and we know that people love the 1 and the 2, so beloved… That we felt that, we should take the lens of that and apply it to the 3,” said Nethongkome.
The shoes feature a combination of a forefoot Air Zoom unit and CushIon 3.0 midsole which serves as something familiar to fans of earlier Sabrinas, reprising the earlier pairs’ comfort and consistent court feel.
Mesh pleats are also featured throughout the upper to serve two purposes: to define the standout style of the new silhouette, while also housing cables that span the midfoot to provide enhanced containment, strength, and support.
For Ionescu, the new and improved pair continues to build on comfort while also ensuring familiarity with the wearer.
“Sabrina 3 is by far the most comfortable shoe I’ve been able to put on and I think when you put on a Sabrina, you know what you’re getting and being able to continue to evolve and wanna have the best performance basketball shoe I can every single year and knowing this allows every athlete around the world to feel their best while they’re on the court,” she said.
But more than the tech in the footwear, Ionescu also underscored the importance of storytelling in her journey to crafting the Sabrina 3 — which, like everything else she does in her career, is linked to the bigger mission of inspiring others.
A distinct feature in her shoe that serves as a tribute to this story telling is the familiar lateral swoosh on Ionescu’s footwear.
“The lateral swoosh is something that excites me, something that we’ve been able to keep consistent from the 1 and 2, just creating this storyline of being able to kind of not have any glass ceilings and breaking down barriers and I feel like, I’ve had that on every shoe and that’s been really important to keep it similar,” said Ionescu.
“Now in the 3, it’s just understanding anyone, anywhere around the world is gonna be able to put the shoe on and feel that they can go out and accomplish whatever it is they want to do with a lot of hard work and not really putting yourself in a box and I feel like, being able to tell that story through the 3 is really exciting,” she added.
The Sabrina 3, along with the latest of her signature collection of dri-fit apparel will be available on July 24 worldwide.