A long time ago, in a Pacific-Northwestern state far far away, a man named Bill Bowerman preached the gospel of the original running shoe. “A shoe must be three things,” he proclaimed. “It must be light, comfortable and it’s got to go the distance.” In the late 1950s, Bowerman was displeased with the current track shoe market. Shoes were made of heavy leather, metal, and were anything but soft and comfortable. As a track coach for the University of Oregon, revered both then and now as an elite running school, Bowerman was obsessed with helping his runners slash seconds of their times. He would dismember track shoes in his garage, and experiment with different animal skins to determine which material made the fastest shoe for his athletes.
One of the first student-athletes to try a Bowerman original was Phil Knight, the eventual founder of Nike (NKE). As to why Bowerman chose him, Knight admitted that “he wasn’t one of the best runners on the team. Bowerman knew he could use me as a guinea pig without much risk.” Bowerman made every shoe to the exact dimensions of a runner’s foot, measuring widths and noting individualities, such as extended heel or slim ankle. As for raw materials, nothing was out of the question. Bowerman used kangaroo leather, velvet, deer hide, snakeskin, and even fish skin, in pursuit of the perfect track sneaker.
“Most American shoemakers are not interested in what we track coaches think about track shoes. The best shoes…at this time are made by the Germans. Their sole material is not too good and I can either replace their sole or I can make my own shoe. I don’t think there is any question, certainly, in my own mind there is not, that I now have the best shoe in the world — if I could just find some good American shoemaker to make it.”
-Bill Bowerman Co-founder Nike 1960
Bowerman would eventually find a good American shoemaker, or better yet, he would become the shoemaker he sought out. Partnering up with his former student-athlete, Phil Knight, the two running enthusiasts would eventually start Blue Ribbon Sports and years down the line, Nike (NKE).
Nearly six decades have gone and went since Bowerman pioneered the first pair of Nike (NKE) running shoes, and since then Nike (NKE) has achieved preeminent success as the be-all, end-all sports brand for athletes, no matter what they play. While shoes designed for athletic performance have been tweaked and reworked for years now, we have yet to see a major alteration in how shoes are tightened, i..e advancements in lace technology. Leave it to Nike (NKE) to, once again, lead the way, running head first into the future.
Earlier this month, Nike (NKE) released the new Adapt BB, a play on the HyperAdapt 1.0, which is itself a real-life attempt on the self-lacing sneakers from Back To The Future II, only this time, no Delorean or wild-eyed scientist could have prepared any of us for this sneaker. Nike managed to create a shoe with power laces controlled via a companion smartphone app.
Matthew Panzarino, a staff writer for TechCrunch, brought up an interesting point when speaking to the possible use cases for app-controlled sneakers. He talked about how basketball players sometimes need coaches to tie their shoes before a game, and after hours of the same level of tightness, with no relief even on the sidelines, this can restrict blood flow and cause injury.
“Consider basketball: Over the course of a basketball game, the foot can expand almost a half-size during play. A level of fit that feels comfortable at one point might feel constrictive just 24 minutes later. Because the needs of the foot change at any given time based on the sport, its duration and on specific movements, like a slashing cut to the basket, “perfect fit” is a floating target.”
–Nike on “Adapt BB” basketball shoe
