Jason Mayden returns as Jordan Brand's design director

Jason Mayden officially returns to Jordan Brand as the new Chief Design Officer. Prior to his most recent role as president of Fear of God Athletics, which he held for two years, Mayden was with Nike Inc. for nearly 14 years. He started with the Swoosh in 2001 and ended his time with the company in 2014 as Jordan Brand’s senior director of global design.

After Nike, Mayden remained heavily involved in the footwear and fashion industry. During his time at Nike Inc. he worked on several projects, such as the 2009 Air Jordan and the Air Jordan 24. Between Nike and Fear of God Athletics, Mayden focused on growing his own company and even taught at USC’s Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy. In 2017, he also founded the children’s footwear brand Super Heroic, as well as his own design collective, Trillicon Valley.

Mayden is parting ways with Jerry Lorenzo’s Fear of God house just a year before Lorenzo has officially released a single collection with adidas. In Lorenzo’s previous interviews and even on Mayden’s own LinkedIn profile, Mayden’s goal at Fear of God Athletics was really to negotiate the independent nature of the brand and the multi-category product line.

In a post about his return on his private Instagram account, he wrote: “It fills me with gratitude to announce my return to @jumpman23 as Chief Design Officer. It’s been an incredible 23 year journey since I started as the brand’s first design intern. Reflecting on the journey that has brought me this far is truly awe-inspiring. Remembering my childhood dreams on the South Side of Chicago is surreal. We’ve come so far, there’s no stopping us now. For those of you going through hard times, don’t lose hope. A wise colleague once said: ‘Nice guys don’t finish last, they finish last”.