Changing The Game with Kimmiski Adams

Change the Game

The Serena Williams Design Crew is making changes in the design room. We linked with artist and designer Kimmiski Adams to talk about why that matters so much.

Images: Jeffrey Brandon for CNK Daily

“I think it’s important for people to know that we’re out here and we aren’t going anywhere.”

Kimmiski Adams is one of our favorite people. The Dallas-bred, Houston-based artist and self-taught designer isn’t afraid to talk about what’s missing behind the scenes in sneakers and streetwear. That missing element? Us. Black and Brown people who, more often than not, are used more as inspiration and less in execution.

Now, a semi-new partnership between Serena Williams and Nike is hoping to change an aspect of that narrative with the inauguration of the Serena Williams Design Crew. That perhaps the greatest athlete in American history should partner with Nike comes as little surprise. But, 18-years after the label first inked a deal with the tennis champ in 2003, and following countless co-branded capsule collections, Williams is using her substantial influence at the Swoosh to champion designers of color in a way we haven’t quite seen a marquee athlete do before.

Established in 2019, the SWDC constitutes a six-month apprenticeship, which tasks incoming designers with creating a boundary-pushing collection alongside Williams and Nike’s in-house team. Based at Nike’s headquarters in Oregon, this fellowship “directly responds to different opportunities to increase diversity across the design industry,” in order to, “see emerging designers that looked like and represented me. From all walks of life,” says Williams.

For us, the SWDC is not only a refreshing change of pace in terms of the design team origins but, also it wasn’t just a statement with very little meat. For the most part, design teams and designers go hidden. While brands often want us to focus on the end result and products that hit our release reminders months (and sometimes years) after the initial concept, peeling back the layers and learning about the people behind the product is something to be championed. Especially when you can relate.

When we were asked to create content around this collection, Kimmiski is one of the first people we thought of. As a designer, the SWDC is something that resonates a little bit more with her. It’s personal and, in all honesty, it’s about damn time for the game to change. Scroll through to learn more about Kimmiski’s journey and see a special piece she created to speak directly to that change.

“As an artist what inspires me the most is music. I can see color in music. ( I am well aware of how this sounds but it's true ) Any type of music is my music. I look for inspiration in movies and fashion as well. These things to me are how we connect and communicate and find common ground.”

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“As a designer my style choices are influenced by shape and vibe. I love a really aesthetically pleasing outfit. Something that stands out to me is the entire feeling that you can see from the entire collection. What I mean by this is all of the pieces feel like they are a collection by a team who enjoyed creating and showing parts of their identity without being judged on how it would be perceived. That is so important because when I design, I would like for people to feel my vibe and my fly. The fly will always resonate with the fly. I can see the personal and the collective win for the designers who created the collection and it makes it more special.”

“The SWDC is so important because it's a collection that feels authentic to what I like as a consumer. Often we get pieces and collections that we make fly. It hits differently when you can feel the vibe and not that it checks a box of what is trending because those who make the trends are responsible for the creation. It definitely hits differently.

More importantly, Black and Brown women who are entering these spaces are changing the culture and it no longer goes through a palatable stage for consumption. Like farm-to-table restaurants, it's refreshing. The SWDC changes the future in careers and creativity for us and expands the trajectory for so many that will come after. It's the definition of what we do to raise the bar and keep it at a consistent high.”

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“Oftentimes we think of how we can change the world. It’s rare when the course of history does change, it takes a true catalyst with the passion to do anything about it. SWDC, led by the GOAT. Ready to CHANGE THE GAME.”