Di’Orr Greenwood

In the video, you say “Art is every day.” Can you talk a bit more about what you mean by that?

We wake up overlooking what Mother Nature creates. When I say “art is an everyday thing” it’s when see that no two flowers have the same pattern or even that the clothing we’re wearing has invisible fingerprints. Someone had to design it and piece it together. People just see the item, but when I look at it, it's like an exploded image that reveals how many steps it took to achieve it.

There’s so much storytelling in each shoe design. How did you start conceptualizing it at first?

I decided I wasn’t going to get groceries and I got an iPad. [laughs] I spent about a month learning to navigate my way around it, learning different apps, learning how to color, and learning Illustrator. It took a while to start designing in the shape of a shoe and thinking about what textures and details I wanted on it. This balance of “good news” and “bad news” was always present throughout the design process.

You know, ‘There’s this brand new baby that's born into the family and then immediately after that, there’s some litigation hearing within Diné Bikéyah (Navajo Nation) water rights. So the whole time I was designing this shoe, there was that consistent balance of something good happening and then something terrible happening to my family or the community.

It was really hard to design something that was only talking about the stoke but it was easy for me to tell the design team that I needed to be able to tell two sides of the same coin. If that weren’t possible, I wouldn’t be telling the complete story.

Speaking up about that to people who may not understand that duality was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done. When I heard back that Nike SB wanted to be part of that storytelling it inspired me to develop a skateboard shoe that could save your laces. I was doing it all with what I had around me—pieces of duct tape, scrap leather, things that people end up discarding and Frankensteining a shoe together with my hands. The moment I put the iPad down the ideas were flowing.

Why was it so important to you to have that concept of duality in the shoe?

It’s as important as having a left and a right leg or the “male” and “female” approach to life. In stories… in folklore, men typically carry the good or happiness and joy in life and women carry the burdens of a community. When I look at some of the women in my community, they move with such grace that you wouldn’t be able to tell that they’re carrying darkness. I wanted to remind people of that duality. These shoes wouldn’t have come together if there was only one side represented and there wasn’t that balance.

I felt like it was my duty as a young matriarch to remind people about the Diné (Navajo) people and the trials and tribulations that remain consistent. These aren’t just events that happened in far away timelines, they’re consistent injustices within tribal communities and it doesn’t get enough awareness.

How did you go about executing those ideas in the two silhouettes, starting with the Blazer?

Because I chose grays, it’s a bookmark reminding or educating people that my generation is the first generation openly allowed to be proud of our culture without the fear of imprisonment or death. I honor my culture in everything that I do because just a short time ago, my Mom wasn't allowed to. I’m the first of a generation that is seeing the results of other family members sticking up for a community and saying that it’s worth preserving. That’s what the Blazer is the strongest testament to. Throughout the darkness, the silver adornment with that little blue turquoise bead is the light in the darkness. As long as you’re never letting go of that light, you’ll always be centered and have that beacon.

The ridges that start at the toe and work clockwise around the entire shoe symbolize every battle that we’ve faced and overcome, not just the Indigenous community but as humans surviving the natural causes of things, surviving the systems implemented that go against Mother Nature. Those ups and downs aren’t only for my community, it’s everyone. It’s emotional wellness, mental health, and physical health–things we all struggle with.

The shoelace protector was my idea. It’s something I’ve done on shoes before but to bring it to this scale was something I’ve always wanted to achieve. As I trade ledges for drop-ins and the streets for bowls, I’d rather take my falls with pads and a helmet and slide down a bowl, so that was the driving force behind the idea to protect the laces. I know I’m the not first person to have done it, but I wanted to make it something beautiful to look at.

You’re definitely the first to integrate it as part of the design in such a unique and cohesive way.

Thank you. I’m stoked and honored. Without getting too political, the shoe was devised and developed to remember the Long Walk of the Diné (Navajo)—the ancestors forced to go on this long walk barefoot from their homelands to Bosque Redondo. The Blazer is a bookmark of the past but it also symbolizes all the trials ahead. I guess I designed a tough shoe for a very tough history and future.

Diné means “the people.” So being able to put Diné on the heel, having a company being moved by my story and understanding of why younger generations need to see that—to see this as a real collaborative piece that shows the artistic side of life—it shows that we’re all just humans against forces of nature. It takes the skin color out and erases all the imaginary boundaries, so I couldn’t think of a more impactful statement to put on a shoe.

Speaking to this larger theme of duality, the Decon Dunk High is much more colorful and vibrant. Can you elaborate on the details and symbolism of that design?

The base of the shoe has four colors symbolizing the four sacred mountains that surround the Dinétah. It provides a deep connection between the land, spirituality, and the culture. Each color is associated with a mountain and a stone linked to the four cardinal directions. When I was thinking about the foundation of not only a shoe but the foundation of my morals and prayers, I couldn’t think of a stronger foundation than four sacred mountains—the original homelands.

Traditional Diné (Navajo) moccasins usually have a white hide that’s representative of the clouds and the snow. So we used the white rubber to emulate that and then the red oxide color. Diné (Navajo) moccasins are called kélchi which is the red shoe for traveling the rainbow. The Diné (Navajo) people have always had stories for everything they’ve done and anything we create. Growing up knowing that everything had a story, it was my duty to make sure that story was kept alive and in perpetuity. Moccasins are literal protection in how you walk your path in life. When they’re made for you they’re presented as an achievement for something you’ve done. It’s a symbolic gift of believing in somebody.

I want everyone who is in this design to glide through life with that feeling of knowing that every piece was thought about and put here to give you that extra confidence that you’re on the right path.

Turquoise is vastly collected among those making Diné (Navajo) jewelry, so the color speaks for itself. To be quite honest, even though we are the makers of some of the most jewelry pieces ever seen, if you aren’t making jewelry you aren’t normally possessing turquoise. A lot of people in our community don’t have much turquoise because they’re trading it to feed their families or provide. So when I was thinking about what color to put on it, I put that color on the shoe as a prayer to always have clean drinking water and symbolic of the blue skies across the Dinétah.

The black trim with the star accents has a reflective base. I wanted the shoe to be interactive. If you’re skating through the night it gives you that small little shine or if you’re walking into a room in the evening you get that slight reflective hit. It’s a reminder that somebody’s always watching. Whether it's your little brother, your little sister, your niece, your nephew, or your family members who have moved on into the star world, it’s a consistent reminder that even in daylight the stars are always present. I wanted to put that statement out into the world to remind people to be good and kind to everybody. The North Star on the toe box is symbolic of the fire of the hoogahn—the fire of your home.

We still burn firewood to warm our homes in the winter, so this is something where the shoe becomes a hybrid by combining the storytelling property of the stars and giving those origin stories to a new canvas. The North Star along with the Little and Big Dipper have been the most consistent thing in my life, besides the Sun and the Moon. The stars were put on the shoe because those asterisms have shown me what it means to be consistent and why consistency is respected. I hope it reminds people to just stay consistent with everything that’s allowing them to reach their goals. Whether it’s a sunny or cloudy day, those asterisms are there no matter what. Those stars have witnessed every injustice and every achievement that has happened to Indigenous communities. I think that should be told more often.

The sunbeam shoelace protector is a thank you to the sun for bringing those rays of sunshine to us every morning and taking them back at the end of the day. The wooden aglets bring this whole space story right back down to Earth, and you can lace the shoes over or under the shoelace protector as a way to represent the clouds and snow again. So you have the option to not have every day be sunny, depending on how you lace the shoe. It’s no different than having a cloudy day. I wanted people to tap into the design and have those little surprises throughout the shoe. For example, “water is life,” which is a hidden detail inscribed on the flaps of the shoe, should be the human motto. I wanted to remind everyone that water is sacred and we shouldn’t take it for granted. I think it’s precious to hide that message just as the ancient water ducts were placed here by Mother Earth.

With both shoes not only being so thought out but also deeply meaningful, how do you feel about people skating your designs?

I’m thrilled for people to skate them because ultimately, they’re skate shoes. It’s just like when I create skateboards. People will tell me, ‘But they’re too beautiful to skate,’ but it’s 7-ply wood, it can hold your weight, and take you where you want to go. Sure, I told a personal story but if you aren’t using the shoe to the extent it was designed for, it failed its purpose. I want people to shred these and to skate them and maybe even make an art piece with them when they’re done and blown out—give them life beyond skating.

If we turn things around, what do these shoes and designs mean to your story?

I had one person in my life repeatedly tell me to dream big. Hearing something as simple as that… it just takes one person to tell you that. Something changes once you hear that correctly. I hope that this is my message to hang in there and dream big. If it took one time for me, I know it’s all my community needs is that one time. I’m excited to see what brains get activated by this and what they can accomplish because I know it’s going to be way larger than what I could ever have thought of.

The SB Dunk Hi Decon and Blazer Mid Decon by Di'Orr Greenwood releases in select Skateshops June 1, and SNKRS June 4. Click HERE to find a shop near you and get notified in SNKRS.