De’Aaron Fox Speaks On The Evolution Of The UA Curry Fox 2

Matt Varga: You had spoken about the “family atmosphere” you felt when you first got with Under Armour. I wanted to start off there; how that relationship has evolved in this next step and, more generally, what the process was like in designing the Fox 2.

De’Aaron Fox: Yeah, it’s really been more of the same. I definitely saw it when I first signed, but especially within the next year, doing commercial shoots for the 1s, just how smooth it went and how much fun everyone had while doing it. But going through this process, it’s been fun — I really can’t complain. Obviously, you want to have your input, but you still want to put a lot of pressure on the design team since they did such a great job with the 1s. We wanted to more of the same on the 2s, and to my eye, I think we accomplished that. People haven’t even seen them in person yet and there’s already been a ton of really good feedback.

Both you and Under Armour have mentioned the Fox 1 being on a “fast track,” speeding up from the usual timeline to capitalize on your signing. Was that different this time around?

We had a lot more time, but honestly, I didn’t want to stray away from what’s worked. I’m never a huge fan of when someone has a shoe and suddenly the follow-up to it is completely different. I didn’t want to have that big jump. We had a good base layer and aimed to build off that. In terms of the feedback we’ve already gotten, it does seem like people are honing in on them looking alike; I think getting a look at them in-hand will show people there’s more than meets the eye.

You’re doing me a favor in partially queueing up my next question. How did you and the team decide which parts of the Fox 1 to keep around and which you felt good experimenting with or developing further?

Obviously, we had to keep the strap, and we’re going to have the Flow no matter what. Getting to change up the look of the Flow was exciting, though. But like I said, I’ve never created a shoe before, so I pitch in my three, four, five ideas and let the UA team put their spins on that input.

What were some of those ideas? Anything that was non-negotiable?

The strap was definitely a must. I needed the lockdown that it gives you when you wear it.

Switching gears a bit, it really does say it all in the name Curry Brand; Steph is no doubt a very influential figure in this story. Given he’s 10+ shoes deep in his career, do you seek out his advice at all when it comes to your own line?

I actually didn’t. I’m close with a few guys that have had their own shoe in the past or have their own shoe now, but I really just try to do my own thing. I haven’t sought anyone out to ask what they went into a meeting and asked for. Really, it’s trusting myself, my team, and the UA Curry Brand team to bring it all home. For my line, I like keeping it looking like a running shoe. At the end of the day, everybody doesn’t play basketball. So when you have someone who only wants to walk around in ’em, only wants to run in ’em, or only lift weights in ’em, I wanted the shoe to still feel comfortable and not be totally restricted to basketball.

How has it been seeing your shoe worn by fans and other pro athletes? Are there any particular moments that stand out as highlights in the past year?

The one for me is the first game after they were being sold. People were in the crowd, reaching through the side railing, trying to get ’em signed. Just running out onto the court and seeing multiple people in the crowd having the shoe was a special moment for sure. Then wearing them in the pre-season and first regular season game was special, being able to officially debut the shoe within a game.

A lot of the colorways for the Fox 1 centered around family; the sequel steps things up with all of their names literally etched into the outsole. Are you planning on revisiting those same themes, or can we expect a different direction?

We’re definitely going to keep that intact; the Reign’s are coming back. We’re going to sell the Poppy’s soon in the 1s and the 2s. Those are the two I feel I have to do every year, and you’ll be able to watch how it evolves with every shoe. Some of the others, you’ll be able to see new inspirations or pieces of my life that I may not have explored yet. But the Reign’s and the Poppy’s are definitely, definitely here to stay.

Can you tell us about any of those new colorways that we can look forward to?

The first ones are the “Curry World Tour.” I love flooded concepts, so we’ve got those with an all-teal, and then down the road, we’ll be doing an all-black. Playing for the Spurs, I feel like it’s a natural way to connect there.

To close out, what are your expectations for the next year or so with the Fox 2? What do you hope fans are going to get when they pick up their pair?

For anyone who loved the 1s, I think you’ll love the 2s. There’s enough similarity, but still enough difference and evolution. For people planning on playing in them, you’ve still got the Flow, you still have the lockdown. You’ll be able to see that when people are wearing them at the Curry Camp, so we’ll start to see some feedback from basketball players who aren’t me. But I’m hoping people love them.

The UA Curry Fox 2 drops on August 22nd via UA Channels and select parnering retailers, debuting in the “World Tour” colorway for $120 in adult sizing.