What to Know About the New Nike Air Force 1 Ultra Flyknit, the Lightest Air Force 1 Ever
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by P. M.
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After 34 years and 2000 different versions, the Air Force 1 – Nike’s iconic shoe rooted in basketball and long considered one of the most recognizable models of the brand – has decided to change. Nike’s designers have created a new combination between the original silhouette of the shoe and Flyknit, Nike’s lightweight and breathable material. How did it all go? It’s recounted in this text by the brand,** Jonathan Johnsongriffin – Design Director Nike Footwear**.
Why apply Flyknit technology to the Air Force 1 shoe?Our main goal in creating the Air Force 1 Ultra Flyknit was to make a more comfortable shoe. The real idea took shape during a team trip to Paris. We set out to pack only one pair of shoes that represented the best in footwear. We chose to wear the OG Air Force 1 in our favorite styles and wear it from sunrise to sunset every day, whether we were dining at a restaurant, playing in a street soccer tournament, or in the midst of Parisian nightlife; the OG Air Force 1 was versatile enough to adapt to all the events we had planned, a real testament to why the Air Force 1 is a fundamental element in sneaker culture: it’s democratic, ambitious, and iconic all at once. In addition to showcasing the Air Force 1’s versatility and resonance in multiple cultural communities, the team gathered some basic insights. After walking around in Air Force 1s for 12 hours a day, they were certain they could make the shoe lighter and more flexible. They also realized the importance of having a perfect fit, especially to avoid creases in the toe area. The Air Force 1 is heavy compared to a Nike running shoe. The addition of Flyknit technology gives this iconic shoe a new level of lightness and comfort, while maintaining its classic silhouette. We took some of the best elements from Nike footwear and the concept of modern comfort and incorporated them into the Air Force 1 for today’s young and modern consumer who wants a classic and wonderful look, but who wants to wear them from early morning going to the train station until returning home in the evening.
What kind of response did you get after introducing this shoe idea? How were you able to verify the actual success of the shoe?The Air Force 1 Ultra Flyknit was one of the most interesting model presentations I have ever done: it was something completely different from anything ever presented to the extended team. When I started conceptualizing the shoe and putting ideas from my head onto paper, I knew that, to sell it and conceptually lead people along the path to the Air Force 1 Ultra Flyknit, I had to physically build the shoe. Upon returning from our group trip, we had a week before the project review. I built a 3-D prototype of the AF1 Ultra midsole and took it home along with a Flyknit upper that I had detached from a shoe at work. I still remember as if it were today the night before the presentation: I was at home with a hot glue gun, a stapler, and a black permanent marker building this prototype. My wife came in and asked, “What are you doing?” and I replied, “Tomorrow I have a very important presentation and I believe, you know, even though I have all these renderings and other things to show, the best strategy to sell my vision is to be able to show them a real 3-D sample.” It wasn’t the best sample I had ever made, but I think it was the most important because it was the one that truly made the vision that our team was trying to pursue with Flyknit. The idea presentation was the first part of the process. When we presented the prototype at the project review, physically seeing the shoe immediately clicked something in the attendees. The most surprising part of the presentation was that, in addition to the 2D rendering, we were able to concretely pull out a tangible idea and explain every nuance of the underlying reasoning. The attendees were immediately willing to sign off on the choice, opening a new chapter on the idea of innovation in sport style for Nike Sportswear. We moved on to the next phase when we actually received a sample of the Air Force 1 Ultra Flyknit. We showed the multicolor prototype at the next project review and immediately our audience was able to grasp the different perception generated by the shoe made with multicolor Flyknit. When they picked it up and were able to truly touch and feel it, they literally went crazy because it was truly the lightest Air Force 1 we had ever created. The multicolor look and lightness are the real features that make the Air Force 1 a new expression of modernity in 2016.
What makes the union of Flyknit and Air Force 1 material so innovative/important?The combination of the Air Force 1, an iconic shoe for sneaker culture, and Flyknit is a pure practical application of innovation in sport style technology. First of all, Flyknit technology is zero-waste innovation. Adding Flyknit to the Air Force 1 will truly launch the Air Force 1 into the world of modern sport style innovation. The iconic DNA of the Air Force 1 is really the other aspect of this modern pairing; there is no other shoe in the world as iconic and versatile. The Air Force 1 Ultra Flyknit makes you think: this isn’t my father’s Air Force 1, this is my Air Force 1: it’s a shoe for energetic young people.
How is the finished version of the Air Force 1 Ultra Flyknit different from the original prototype?We went through an extremely intricate process to get the final product. We took steps forward and backward in the development and technical realization of the product to ensure we maintained the integrity of the mold while making it lighter and faithful to the original Air Force 1. There is a strong difference between building a traditional Air Force 1 and integrating Flyknit technology into one of these shoes. Flyknit is woven as a single panel and comes out of the looms as a single piece. The pattern of a traditional Air Force 1, however, consists of stitched base/overlay panels, such as: toe, saddle, band between upper and sole, eyelet area, and upper. A much more additive process than reductive*. We really wanted to create a bridge between Flyknit innovation and the DNA of the Air Force 1, and the process was truly maniacal. Every detail of the Air Force 1 was not simply planned, it was purpose-built. We turned the shoe’s DNA multiple times to make the Air Force 1 Ultra Flyknit a modern shoe that still pays homage to the past. A new aspect of the design of this shoe was the inclusion of leather in the Flyknit shoe model, done for the first time on a Flyknit shoe. The Air Force 1 Ultra Flyknit includes a leather swoosh, a leather back label, and a leather-lined eyestay, characteristic elements of the original Air Force 1. Another aspect of the design never before realized was the construction of a wavy eyestay area. The eyestay area of the Air Force 1 Ultra is built in a wave shape that provides greater flexibility and a better fit for the entire shoe. It was a very challenging aspect to integrate into the Flyknit upper; our technicians spent a lot of time creating a very interesting mold that could really hold the various parts in the correct position in order to create the wave in the eyestay area.