Nike Roshe Two Flyknit
Nike Sportswear has a new special addition to its footwear range, the Nike Roshe Two Flyknit.
When creating the Nike Roshe, Nike Sportswear designers looked at three key attributes to make the perfect shoe for all-day wear: underfoot comfort, upper comfort, and long-lasting comfort.
The Nike Roshe Two Flyknit pays homage to the classic and beloved Roshe, with the addition of a Flyknit constructed upper. The knit moulds to the foot for a stretchy, lightweight fit that feels custom made.
Nike Sportswear Design Director Dylan Raasch talks flyknit, comfort, evolution and innovation of the sneaker.
Interviewer. As a design function, what are the aspects or objective considerations that you put into comfort? When you look at a shoe, what are the things that you think provide comfort, or you want to innovate around for comfort?
Dylan Raasch. Okay. Yes, I think there are three of those. One is underfoot comfort. That’s kind of the obvious, the insole and the outsole. The second area is upper comfort. This may be pretty obvious, but we want to understand just how the footwear interacts with the top of your foot. And the third is the newest one that we’re looking at, that’s all-day comfort.
I. Can you break those down for us?
DR. For the underfoot comfort, insoles were initially used to cover up stitching at the bottom of the shoe. Now, they are the first layer of a cushioning system.
So, previously, the shoe — the Roshe One had just an IU or Phylon insole. But now we’re going to like more of dual-density memory foam. So you had an initial, “Wow, this is super-comfortable.” But then we want to make sure it doesn’t pack out for all-day comfort.
After that, we explore the outsole. Obviously, this is a huge story for the shoe. It was originally built around a soft IU concept, so how do we improve on that? It’s actually thinking about making it more dynamic.
A lot of people say they like Nike Free and think they are super-comfortable, but it’s actually the flexibility in the shoe that people associate with comfort. Flexibility doesn’t always equate comfort. It’s more complicated than that. We want to core out the outsole, giving each waffle its own ability for dynamic movement. Combine that with the triple-density foam, and the insole, and you get maximum underfoot comfort.
And then the upper, I mean, that’s another one that’s kind of obvious. But we’ve noticed people have been very drawn to a sock-like fit. There were some iconic shoes, like the Sock Racer and the Sock Dart that already had that kind of fit. We wanted to figure out how we integrate this idea into the original Roshe One. So with Roshe Two we created a one-piece bootie that hugs your foot and is very dynamic and adapted to the shape of your foot. And then on top of that, we added the foam padding to give you like a little bit of a padded sock, so to speak. So there’s a level of “pillowiness.”
I. That’s a good way to put it, “pillowiness.” Yeah, okay, great. So underfoot, upper comfort. And now all-day comfort?
DR. Yeah, and then all-day comfort. That’s more of a complete package of those two things. We looked at how, when you’re on your feet all day, your feet kind of grow throughout. Pair that with the temperature changes that your feet may face as they get warmer. The result is a shoe that allowed for breathability and stretch. To work with your foot as it grows throughout the day.
I. Yeah, so things like the upper innovation really plays to all-day comfort, because it’s sort of providing a pillow effect around your foot no matter how much movement you have whether stationary or not?
DR. It’s supporting you, I guess as a glove would hold your hand and reduce swelling in certain sport situations. Our footwear should basically be an adaptive glove for your feet.
I. So how do you and your team judge comfort beyond just do the wear testing? So you’ve innovated in those three areas. Then you’re like, “Okay, how do we judge if we have succeeded?”
DR. Obviously, we do the wear testing, which is direct feedback. I mean, apart from us wearing it…we use science and engineering to map how it will react. Basically, the architecture behind the outsole, we know our learnings from the NSRL, and years of Nike footwear innovation how the foot and our innovations will react. These cored-out waffles on the outsole will act like a piston and this is going to give you greater impact resistance. So just by doing those things, and then adding an appropriate level of “softness” within, it’s basically a science.
I. Yeah. I guess in your career so far in creating shoes how has how you look at comfort changed?
DR. Well, I think it goes back to that idea of all-day comfort, because initially it was always like, “Wow, that shoe’s comfortable.” And then you go out and you walk around New York City for eight hours, and then you would be like, “Oh, it’s not so comfortable anymore.” I think now it’s putting it to the test of that, you know, the idea that our consumers walk the equivalent of a marathon a week, is it going to stand up to the test of time of walking that many miles in the city? I think we look at the bigger picture.
I. It’s sort of a shift for basically your whole team and everyone, to sort of consider the long durability over the immediate, “Ooh, how it feels on my foot right now?
DR. Yes, because I think initially that’s how everybody — you know, you’re in the store, you put on the shoe and your first reaction is the scale for how content your feet will be. It’s not just about comfort, it’s actually more complicated than that. We work to give that perfect balance of stability, support and cushioning. If your feet feel great after a crazy day, then we have done our job.
Get a first look at the Nike Roshe Two Flyknit from all angles, with the short film opposite, which is exclusive to fluoro.
The Nike Roshe Two Flyknit will be available Thursday 25 August 2016 via the SNKRS App and the Nike Tech Book, and at global retailers on Thursday 1 September 2016.
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