Flywire is a revolutionary shoe upper technology developed by NIKE in 2008. The thickness of the upper is less than 1 mm, and it only relies on thin wire support. This is the NIKE Flywire technology, a pursuit of ultra-lightweight and durable upper support technology. Imagine a pair of sneakers that are as thin as paper. The upper is less than 2 mm thick and supported only by thin wires.
Relying on Flywire technology, Nike can design the lightest and strongest sports shoes ever. By reducing the material required for the upper to the level of barefoot, the shoemaking method has been changed. Thanks to this innovative technology, the weight of running spikes using Flywire technology can now be less than 100 grams, such a weight is unprecedented, and the running shoes still do not lose their durability, integrity and support function. Six and a half years ago, Jay Meschter (Jay Meschter), the founder of Flywire shoes and the innovation director of Nike Innovation Kitchen, had only one last in his hand. This last used as a shoe mold was covered with pins. And the thin line, the position of the pin and the thin line is the key point that the foot needs to support. This model looks like rope art from the 1970s, but it breeds unknown possibilities. It is this simple product concept that contains the potential to bring changes to shoemaking methods. The engineering fibers are arranged in specific parts to form the skeleton or supporting bracket of sports shoes, so as to keep the feet stable in place. This method overturns the original assumption of manufacturing sports shoes: adding more elements to the sports shoes to obtain more support. Innovative kitchens fully understood the development potential of new products, but at that time there was no easy or economical way to turn innovative ideas into actual products. So the project was shelved until Jay and his design team finally discovered machines and processes that could put this technology into reality.
A few years later, Jay found the answer on an ordinary sewing machine in Nike’s sample room: Flywire can be made by embroidery. Theoretically, the needle of the sewing machine can be moved and raised in all directions to form the long stitches required by the new technology. Of course, it is not so simple. The embroidery machine must be disassembled and reprogrammed to achieve the design effect Jay wants.
The method of sewing directly through the upper of the shoe (rather than using a large jump stitch) makes the side decoration of the shoe no longer effective. Long stitches mean that the upper structure is entirely composed of thin threads. Flywire has greatly reduced the weight of sports shoes, announcing the end of the shoemaking era that uses multiple layers of fabric to provide support, because the latter will only increase the weight of the shoe and reduce the elasticity.
In the early stages of this process, the design team began to collaborate with biomechanics experts in the Nike Sports Research Laboratory (NSRL). They glued the cloth tape in their hands to the designer’s feet. Jeff Pisciotta, a researcher at the Nike Sports Research Laboratory, is fascinated by the idea of creating additional ligaments to promote foot movement. Ligaments can guide joints in the correct direction. He explained, “We use tape to wrap the foot from the bottom to the heel to provide stability to the side of the foot. With this method and some anatomical principles, we can design the Flywire fiber in the right place.”
The precise distribution of the Flywire ligaments means that the upper is like the second skin. The function of the fabric is only to prevent the entry of stones and soil, and all the support is provided by thin threads. The new sports shoes can solve a problem that has not been solved for a long time: foot slip.
When people wear shoes to walk or run, foot slip occurs at every step. Although it is only 1mm of slip, it will accumulate in the entire race. Calculated by a 1-meter stride, after 1000 meters, it is equivalent to 1 meter short-and the gap between the first and third places is often less than 1 meter, so this number should not be underestimated.
Merchert pointed out, “Flywire fills in the neglected part of the supporting plate that touches the sole of the foot, and makes people forget the existence of the shoe.” Nike has therefore taken a step closer to Bill Bowman’s goal. When Bowman was a coach, he once said that the ideal trail running spikes should be like nails passing through the foot. Today’s Flywire is certainly not as extreme as a nail, but it does make the spike support plate as close to the foot as possible. This technology will first be applied to some sports shoes, such as athletic shoes Nike Zoom Victory Spike, Nike Zoom Victory +, and Nike Hyperdunk basketball shoes.
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