Kobe X HTM creates detailed aesthetic with premium materials

SI.com's Tim Newcomb describes the new NikeLab Kobe X Elite Low HTM, which launches in Milan on April 14.

Detail meets premium materials in the new NikeLab Kobe X Elite Low HTM launch, a collection of three colorways that give fresh perspective to Nike’s most recent signature basketball sneaker.

HTM, a collaboration between Nike CEO Mark Parker, legendary designer Tinker Hatfield, and Fragment Design founder Hiroshi Fujiwara, used the “Elite” materials of Flyknit and Flywire with an original take on Kobe X design details.

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Each colorway comes with two different sets of aglets that screw onto the tips of the laces, varying in color, but each with a metallic finish and HTM lettering. “Pops of color” highlight the outsole’s flex grooves and HTM lettering accentuates the back tab, with lining in the heel collar varying for each version.

Two of the versions offer a molded leather tongue top, each sockliner has silicone printing for a different underfoot feeling, and the Flyknit yarn comes translucent—along with translucent rubber casing in the midsole and outsole—as a direct reference to Kobe’s proclaimed focus on personally opening up.

The three colorways launch in Milan on April 14 and then globally this summer.

Tim Newcomb covers stadiums, design and gear for Sports Illustrated. Follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb.