Knitting your shoe? The next step towards barefoot running

In the dutch Runnersworld of last week the big shoe test. It is overtaken by the new release of the Nike Flyknit. The trend visible in the test is less and less shoe to approach barefoot running. The Nike Flyknit is the next step in this evolution.

The startpoint for this new shoe? The comfort a sock offers: “A sock fits great, feels snug, goes unnoticed, and you get no irritation,” Yeah sure but how about stones, glass on the pavement or some support during running. No such thing in a sock. Than the Nike Flyknit is the solution.

What I like about this shoes is that it is designed to meet the wish of the (common) runner. That the (industrial) engineer face a s#!t load of problems to realise this wish is basically a designers dream. Solving al the problems. That is took the engineers 4 years is no punishment if you like such a challenge. The shoe is not entirely new. The Lunar(lon) sole is in use in the shoeline with the same name and the flywire is used as well in commercially available shoes.

Besides the topline shoes weighing 160 gramms Nike will release a trainer of only 270 gram. The top model is for the runners of the olympic marathon next summer in London. On the site co.design is an extensive article. Off course you can find the pressrelease also on the Nike site. Below a couple of videos: and number 2: