Introduction
At PI Apparel Stride 2025, three cross-disciplinary designers – Brett Golliff, Aaron Cooper, and David Burpee – shared the story of their collaboration on EQLZ, an independent basketball brand redefining performance through purpose-driven design, biomimicry, and computational innovation.
With backgrounds spanning Nike, New Balance, automotive design, and skyscraper engineering, the trio came together to create not just a shoe, but a platform for storytelling, community building, and product excellence at the intersection of human and machine.
🎥 Watch the full video interview below!
Don’t have time to watch the full video? Scroll down for a summary of key takeaways and noteworthy quotes.
🔑 Key Takeaways
1. Designing with Empathy: Letting the Player Lead
At the heart of EQLZ’s creative process was a simple but powerful principle: listen before you design. Rather than beginning with materials or trend boards, the team started with the community – the athletes, their needs, their pain points, and their love for the game. Aaron Cooper emphasised that empathy was the most important design tool in the room. The brand name EQLZ, pronounced “equalize,” reflects this philosophy – a commitment to equality and shared experience in sport. The goal wasn’t to build hype, but to build trust, performance, and relevance from the ground up.
2. Learning from the Legends: A Design Lens Across Generations
To build truly versatile and resonant performance products, the EQLZ team looked to iconic players from basketball’s recent past – Scottie Pippen, Jason Kidd, and Steve Nash – each representing a unique movement style that still resonates with players today. These references grounded the footwear design in time-tested movement types, creating shoes that feel relevant not just to today’s pros or street players, but to an evolving game shaped by decades of performance evolution.
3. Three Speeds, Three Shoes: Designing for Movement Archetypes
Recognising that no two basketball players move the same, the team created three unique shoes, each inspired by a distinct “speed type.” The First Step Speed shoe was built for explosive launchers like Pippen. The Transition Speed shoe embodied constant movement à la Jason Kidd. And the Shifting Speed shoe was engineered for agile players like Steve Nash, optimising for rapid directional changes. This framework helped the team align product performance with the lived realities of players across styles and eras.
4. Biomimicry: Learning from Nature’s Athletes
Nature served as both inspiration and blueprint. The mako shark, known for smooth, gliding motion, influenced the Transition Speed outsole. The cheetah’s explosive acceleration informed First Step Speed design, while the falcon’s pivot and dive behavior shaped the Shifting Speed shoe. These biomimetic references informed traction zones, flex patterns, and geometry – not as aesthetics, but as functional parallels to human performance.
5. Parametric Precision: The Role of Algorithmic Design
David Burpee brought deep expertise in computational tooling, using Houdini to build performance-tuned outsoles based on 2.1 million pressure data points. He applied reaction-diffusion algorithms – the same processes that form zebra stripes and coral – to generate organic, fractal traction patterns. These weren’t just beautiful – they delivered measurable performance advantages in grip, durability, and biomechanical response.
6. Craft Meets Code: The Human Element in Digital Design
Despite leveraging cutting-edge digital tools, the final product was shaped by hand. Aaron Cooper emphasised the need for manual surfacing and physical sculpting to bring warmth, personality, and nuance. Citing wabi-sabi, the Japanese appreciation for imperfection, he noted that “the answer isn’t human vs machine – it’s in the middle.” The result was a shoe that looked engineered but felt human.
7. Design as a Narrative Engine
The same digital assets used for prototyping and simulation were repurposed for marketing, storytelling, and content creation. “Design is communication,” Aaron noted – emphasising that the tools weren’t just for making product, but for sharing its purpose. One of the most shared posts on EQLZ’s social channels? A parametric outsole render from David’s simulations – showing that even technical storytelling can captivate an audience.
8. Giving the Culture Its Flowers: Community-First Marketing
To launch the brand, EQLZ launched “Hidden Gem,” a campaign that spotlighted under-recognised players sourced from Instagram. These everyday hoopers weren’t influencers – they were gifted pairs of shoes and told their stories, organically generating buzz. The result was grassroots, emotional, and deeply authentic. The campaign flipped the traditional marketing model by celebrating culture rather than chasing clout.
💬 Noteworthy Quotes
Aaron Cooper – Creative Direction & Design Philosophy
“We’re not here to create more stuff. We’re here to create better-performing product that people want to keep in their life.”
“It’s not human versus machine. The answer is in the middle.”
“Some of the players were in tears when we gave them their pair…they felt seen.”
Brett Golliff – Form, Emotion & Cross-Industry Insight
“Design is not about what it looks like. Design is about what it does.”
“We’re not trying to impress designers. We’re trying to connect with athletes.”
“The car world taught me: if it doesn’t move people emotionally, it doesn’t matter how cool it is technically.”
David Burpee – Engineering & Computational Design
“We simulated over 2 million points of pressure to shape the outsole – it wasn’t guesswork.”
“Reaction-diffusion algorithms – the ones nature uses to make zebra stripes – helped shape our traction.”
“I thought only other nerds like me would care – but the parametric outsole post became the most shared thing on their IG.”
👏 Closing Thought
The EQLZ story is more than a case study in modern footwear design – it’s a blueprint for what’s possible when empathy, engineering, storytelling, and cross-generational insight come together with purpose. From algorithmic traction patterns to emotionally resonant campaigns, Aaron, Brett, and David reminded us that great design doesn’t just perform, it connects.
❤️ A huge thank you to all three speakers for sharing their process so generously at PI Apparel Stride 2025. Their work doesn’t just move the game forward; it honours everyone who plays it.
Missed Stride 2025?! Worry not; Stride USA will be returning to Portland in March 2026. Register your interest now.
