Nike Air Flightposite, 1999
“We were setting out to create a seamless extension of your body.”- Eric Avar
Where does the body end and the shoe begin? The Nike Air Flightposite succeeded in surprising the audience with a progressive dose of unfamiliarity that felt comfortable and strangely familiar. Its sleek, biomechanical shape communicated a certain level of humanity. Concept cars and the figure drawings of a 17th-century British artist reflected the rich range of physical and engineered influences at work during the design stage. In the quest for biomechanic streamlining, even laces were replaced by a zipper to emphasize a seamless fluidity. The wearer, the shoe and even the sole all merged into one for a holistic look and feel like never before. In the years that followed, the Foam and Flightposite systems would be explored further — proof of the restless, perfectionist, reductionist minds operating in the Nike Innovation Kitchen.
Article and Photos via: Nike Inc.
