UNEXPECTED FALL 2004

Another true story, the one that happened to some of us, you know when there is an open window in your brain in what the future can be. This chapter states exactly this feeling I had back in 2001 when I started to project a vision of the performance footwear with a 5 years scope. 

I named it Unexpected fall 04 and sent it to my friends at Nike. Why Nike? Because this brand always been at the pinnacle of innovation in this field. Will follow 4 chapters, Running Lifestyle, Running Performance, Sports Wear and Training. 12 models.

Running Lifestyle: I always liked the Nike Catalogue page layouts and decided to communicate the content as if people in the company hold their probable future. Everything is invented, the products, the constructions, the arguments, the names etc.... same for the other following categories.

For the running iterations, One star is selected, a 360 degree air max called Max Opulence. Above the inspiration board

The product shows the blend of 3 distinctive "so called" technologies. A hollowed chassis in which 360 pods of air are inserted. The pods are the likes of the fall 04 introduced Nike free in a 360 manner as per the air max 2006.

First generation of Nike free launched in fall 2004

first air max 360 lauched in 2006

Running Performance catalogue page.

Running Performance: Already Tired of layers we were finding in shoe making at that time, I introduced the idea of thermo-forming upper, as if the shoe was tailored to your foot morphology. 

Impossible details of the star product. Few years later I realized how difficult this shoe is in term of construction. But I still believe today in thermo forming.

Sports Wear inspiration page.

Sports Wear catalogue page where you can see the association of full grain leather and translucency (see below). 3D crafted fabrics and embossed jacquards, are already considered in the vision. Molded EVA with integrated air max unit...or 3D heel EVA replacement of usual integrated plastic heel counter. Some of the options have been lately introduced in the market in summer 2015 like the latest KD8 Basketball shoe.

Speaking about transparency and full grain Leather combination,  I have been almost in synchrony with Designer A cooper who designed the shoe in 2001 and saw its introduction in 2003. He answered and designed a basketball icon, I suggested a sleep-on sportswear daily companion with a close to the foot full zoom air visibility.

NIKE KD 8   2015 and its heelcounter / midsole extended 

Training inspiration page.

Training catalogue page where you can see the association of thermo forming base upper over the air systems, the return of the air 180 expressed in a different way,  and a funky version of EVA midsole that reminds of a NikeFree individual pods. 

We are almost 15 years later, and I still believe this small exercise of projection was worth making it. The reality turned the product concepts way simpler than I thought, while I am still surprised to see similar solution hitting the market later on. 

The reason is simple, creative Ideas are hung over our heads. I just picked some of them.  

still today.........

ALL ABOUT STUDS (part 1)

This picture alone tells the story of one of the longest scientific opinion conflict when we speak about studded football shoes. Whats more efficient? Rounded stud or Bladed studs. This ever unresolved question rolled us for a long debate which, (can you believe?) lasted 50 years.

The first battle saw the victory of the Rounded studs Era. Here in picture, the last piece of art developed with an accurate eye of Adolf Dassler, the founder.

The second Battle defeated the Round studs and gave birth to the blade studs era from 1996 to 2010.

Some brands could not decide wether Round or Blades was the right answer. They implemented both of them in an hybrid functional manner: soft and firm ground. Lotto zhero gravity.

Ah The blades: if you are coming from another planet, and see Bladed shoes, you might imagine a sport where movements are generally made in a lateral motion, a bit like a Crossfit specialty on grass only......


But Football/Soccer is everything but only lateral motion. This is this functional context that Harald, Jürgen and I started to question in 2008.

Looking for a way to accelerate the game, I did a converged study in between soccer and track and field sprint discipline.

We looked at the stud placement in forefoot that compromise the two sports. from an exo-sourced document, some of you might recognize.

Once the position fixed, we declared the acceleration the cutting and the breaking zones. I analyzed the zones according to these two maps obtained from another exo-sourced document, in Google Patent, from the Mizuno stud study made available for all.

A new generation of stud is born, semi round at the top and triangular at the base for an increased 3 directional traxion pattern. 

In orange are the studs and shapes, fruits of our research, Adidas The Dassler Project,  the best ever recorded traxion at Adidas in history. 

In yellow is the modified pattern and shaped studs that characterize the new era of triangular studs at Adidas, the F50 limit launched in 2010.  no more Rounds, no more Blades.....but Deltas.

We kept our focus in improving the delta franchise with medical support in order to create in 2014, the Zonic system introduced the year of the world cup in Brazil and still implemented in 2015 in Messi's signature shoe and the late X Chaos line

I spotted different aficionados of the delta studs. I would love to hear or read what decided these 7 brands to opt for the deltas. Unfortunately the information is not public. But I can certify it, all of them came out after 2011.

Harald G, Harry K, Jürgen W, Stefan S, marco M, Dirk M, Helmut H, Bob K, Martin L, Jamal N Volker S, and few others became the devoted makers of the third generation of studs that are proven to reduce athletes injuries.

Sometimes, when I wonder why I am doing this job, this article looks like a good reminder.

Ah....FIVE FINGERS !

Generally, when we speak Five Fingers in our field, One brand comes in mind. Invented in 1999 by Robert Fliri, a design student who wanted to "figure out a way to move around in nature better." Vibram FiveFingers were developed and introduced in 2005.

Okay, I won't bore you with any biomechanics, nor good or bad, neither minimalism nor lawsuits from or against the brand Vibram. Wikipedia and running forums seem to be the right addresses for all of this.

Even if I would, I could have mentioned the beautiful craftmanship of those Vibram shoes, the precise patern engineering whitnessing through quality the time spent in between the first prototype to the first product delivery.

I could have written about how Vibram made afficionados along the way.... Adidas quality is certainly out of question, but  shape wise, it looks to me difficult to paralell the Italian/american patern engineering secrets.

I could have also spent time writing about another Vibram's friend FILA and....

I could at least spend more time speaking of this second skin, fully made in urethane or TPU and injected by our british friends at INOV8.

In fact, The reason of this article lies in a personal discovery when I visited the imperial war Museum in London in july 2012. In theWWII section, precisely in the british/japanese sector, I discovered the unbelievable piece of footwear.

Having lost the picture of my discovery, I ask the courtesy of my Good Friend Yves, to investigate for me the mystery of the WWII five finger shoe. Here's what he sent to me.

In the field the royal secret agents were also given these overshoes (above) to disguise their footprints. They were especially useful in the Pacific where Japanese path-finders would mistake the prints for barefoot natives.

Thank you Yves for your support and fast inquiery.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2416030/Christine-Granville-Britains-female-special-agent-paved-way-liberation-France.html#ixzz3j6zUS0s0

The story doesn't tell if student Robert Fliri visited this section of the Imperial war Museum...

WHEN I DON'T KNOW....BUT FRIENDS ARE HELPING.

This is a story about alpine ski boots. I am a bad skier but I always been attracted by the techy style of ski boots. My good friend Bob Monahan is a talented skier. Back in 2010, we spent time together speaking about what skiers generaly would apreciate for their boots. The thing started and became what follows below.

Another great friend of mine, Kota Tsukamoto and talented ski boot designer at Tecnica looked at the outcome and gave me some non confidential comments on how the shoe features could benefit to some fearless skiers. 

Among the manufacturers, I thought the Austrian Head would be the right pick. This brand looks to me at the pinacle of performance and precision.  Plus this is a tribute to my inspirator,  Bob and Head being his favorite brand.

As a beginner, It took me bit of documentary researches on how the boots where made,  I found the best teacher through the documents available at GOOGLE PATENTS.

A study based on boot shapes and analogies to product or automotive design. 

There is to me no project without values or key words, neither analogies nor  defined objectives.

Cold Feet answer.

Features

Early sketches

The Result. A boot for performers, with a concern for thermo regulation and comfort and little other improvements.  a counter answer to those who think being an athlete means training while  accepting pain and sufferings.

Even if this boot remains a fiction, its been designed with the scope of these massifs in Alaska, where Bob loves to descent few minutes after being heli ported.

SILHOUETTE IS EVERYTHING TO ME. (part4)

In Tennis, We seem to have a new leader: Asics. 

It looks like in 2015, the most sold tennis shoes worldwide are Asics.

There might be different reasons in which fit, comfort, stability blah blah play a significant role. Most of the people I have been talking to, are eventually praising the running spirit brought by the Japanese brand, in a place where the others are still doing remarkable tennis shoes. 

Running difference can be material driven, but I see here Asics being the sleekest silhouettes of the market and I also see wider collar openings. lets have a look at this collar area few seconds.

I selected Three of the Nike top tennis products. the zoom Cage, The Federer's vapor 9,5 and the Nadal's zoom Ballistec. I could have selected other brands, but I found these three shoes significant for this collar measurement topic as if those modified models where following the asics upper mesurement standards.

It is funny to see how the same shoes above and here below look faster and lighter just by collar height and lenght modifications.

I would admit that the Nadal's Ballistec is so closed to a basketball shoe silhouette that turning its shape with running attributes, make it for sure visually lighter but less impactfull in term of character.

At Wilson Tennis, we had a similar situation with the Rush pro 1 (designed by IDW agency) with a short collar that made a long shoe body (Longer feet impression for the players). 

We resolved that topic by using a collar measurements half way in between tennis and running standards for the Wilson Rush pro 2.0. It is interesting to see how pure running standards (110 mm collar lenght for size 9 US) are following the basic grid of PHI (golden number).

Comments are welcome....