By Devon Preston
Photos by John Chen
Manifestation is exceptionally powerful. It may seem like total nonsense if you don’t believe it, but even hardened skeptics have to admit that there is something to be said for putting your intentions into the universe. Daniel Bailey, known in the fashion industry as Mr. Bailey, manifested his success in streetwear when he got his first tattoo at the age of 15.
“When I was playing basketball in school, I remember another basketball player who had his last name tattooed on his arm with little stars,” says Bailey. “I thought it was the coolest thing ever and got it. I didn’t tell my parents beforehand and when I got home I was like, ‘I have a tattoo.’ They thought it was a hoax, but afterward, to be honest, they totally agreed. Then tattooing just got addicting over the years.”
He didn’t know it then, but that first tattoo put Bailey on the path to becoming a global brand. Today he positions himself at the interface between fashion and product design. This was initially initiated by his parents, who introduced him to both disciplines at an early age. “We’re very artistic on my mother’s side and my father’s side is interested in technology – so this combination was perfect,” he says. “Shoes really got me into product design. When my father left the army and we settled in England, I was massively fascinated with basketball. This streetwear culture that I was exposed to when I was younger, combined with my family’s artistic and technical background, culminated in studying product design in college. Shoes are both a functional object and a style object, so it was a natural progression in my career.”
It is common for shoe designers to start their careers with established brands such as Nike, adidas or Puma. After meeting a friend in New York, Bailey was instead inspired to pursue his work as a sole proprietorship, leading to the creation of the Revolutionary Shoe innovation platform CONCEPTKICKS.
CONCEPTKICKS has been a disruptive force from the start. During his initiation into shoe design, Bailey studied shoe representations from his mentor, design entrepreneur Omar Bailey. This triggered something in Daniel as he couldn’t believe this wasn’t readily available to the masses. “I felt like this world was shrouded in mystery and brands wanted it to be like that,” he recalls. “I just thought it would be great to have a platform where designers could have a place to share their designs and the work that goes into them with a collective. I have this passion for it and if I can create a platform for people to see their work I get inspired too. It’s all about embracing and sharing what makes the industry better as a community.”
Photo by John Chen
Through CONCEPTKICKS, Bailey was able to explain the dichotomy between fashion and function through the lens of most men’s shoes. The women’s shoe industry has long toyed with this relationship, with designers like Alexander McQueen creating fantastically artistic creations that somehow are still wearable. This approach was rarely brought to the sneaker world before CONCEPTKICKS.
“When I’m designing, I’m always thinking about how I can create a product where everyone will step back and wonder how it was executed,” says Bailey. “It’s a constant question of what I know and what I don’t know. I’ve found this appreciation for creating something that looks very conceptual and progressive but is always 1000 percent wearable. The limitations of foot ergonomics allow me to be much more creative.”
CONCEPTKICKS was just the beginning for Bailey to push the creative boundaries. He has expanded collaborations with other brands such as adidas and Zegna under the Mr. Bailey name. After making waves with the 2021 adidas Ammonite Superstar, he’s collaborating with the brand again. “This shoe is reminiscent of nature,” explains Bailey. “At adidas we focus on the element of water. I wanted to combine fantasy with reality by designing a shoe that looks like a jellyfish attached to an underwater person’s foot. The shoe would grow and envelop the foot in this fusion of jellyfish and the brand’s cushioning compound, adiPlus. I also thought it would be really interesting to do an anime of the process and show the first stage where the jellyfish attaches to the foot and OZLUCENT is formed.”
OZLUCENT by Mr. Bailey and adidas is expected to drop in September. It’s one of many projects Bailey is currently juggling as he plans to release more shoes with adidas, as well as more collaborations with other brands in the pipeline. Most importantly, he’s preparing to debut the Mr. Bailey brand, which he’s kept almost entirely under wraps. Do we know when that will drop? nope Will it be amazing? Absolutely damn loud.