Vanessa Bryant Honors Late Daughter Gianna with Special Nikes on What Would Have Been Her 18th Birthday
The butterfly-themed design was inspired by Gianna's "transformational impact" on women's sports
Vanessa Bryant unveiled a new colorway of the Nike Kobe 8 "Mambacita" sneakers in honor of her late daughter Gianna's 18th birthday
The new design features a butterfly theme in gold, white and black to celebrate Gianna's "transformational impact" on women' sports
The new colorway is available for purchase on Gianna's birthdate, May 1
Vanessa Bryant is celebrating her late daughter, Gianna Bryant, with the release of a new colorway of the Nike Kobe 8 "Mambacita" on what would have been Gianna's 18th birthday.
Vanessa, 41, shared photos of the new "Mambacita" design — which features a black, white and gold butterfly theme — on her Instagram on Monday, April 29.
The special edition will be available for purchase on Gianna's birthday, May 1.
"MAMBACITA ❤️5/1/2006 ❤️GIGI," Vanessa wrote in the captions of two posts of the shoes on Instagram.
Vanessa also shared Nike's Reel of the design, which shows butterflies fluttering around the shoe and explains that the concept was inspired by Gianna's "transformational impact" on women's basketball.
Related: Vanessa Bryant and Daughters Honor Kobe Bryant in Emotional Handprint Ceremony: 'Love You Forever'
"On 5.1 we celebrate Gianna 'Gigi' Bryant’s 18th birthday and the transformational impact she had on highlighting women’s sports with the release of the Kobe 8 Protro ‘Mambacita’ 🦋," Nike's caption read.
According to Nike, profits from the new colorway will benefit the Mambacita Sports Foundation, a nonprofit started by Vanessa that is dedicated to supporting underserved child athletes.
The posts on Vanessa's Instagram grid earned support from some of her famous friends like Khloe Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Kathy Hilton, who all left emojis of hearts and butterflies in the comments.
The new colorway inspired by Gianna comes just two weeks after Vanessa shared a sweet tribute to her late husband, Kobe Bryant, on their 23rd wedding anniversary. In the images, Kobe is dressed in a suit and tie while Vanessa wears a sparkly gold dress as the couple smile, dance and kiss on a previous night out.
"Happy Anniversary @kobebryant ❤️ #23," Vanessa wrote in the caption of her post, alongside a collage of four throwback pictures of her and Kobe.
Related: Kobe Bryant and Vanessa Bryant's Relationship: A Look Back at Their Romance
She shared the post to Instagram Stories as well, adding a gif of a wedding ring and the song "Anniversary" by Tony! Toni! Toné!
And in January, Vanessa remembered Kobe and Gianna on the anniversary of the helicopter crash that tragically took their lives and seven others on Jan. 26, 2020.
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In an Instagram post, Vanessa shared a photo of Kobe smiling with his arm wrapped around Gianna. Vanessa added, "❤️❤️" to the caption.
The same photo was shared on the Los Angeles Lakers Instagram account with the caption, "Forever 💜."
The "Mamabacita" sneaker isn't the only tribute to Gianna announced this year. After the Los Angeles Lakers unveiled their statue of Kobe at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown L.A., Vanessa confirmed that two more statues will be erected in the area — one showing Kobe wearing No. 8 and another featuring Gianna.
A Lakers spokesperson told ESPN that the location for the additional statues is to be determined.
During the unveiling of the first statue, Vanessa said, "Kobe has so many people that have supported him all over the world from the very beginning and this moment isn't just for Kobe, but it's for all of you that have been rooting for him all of these years."
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