Nike has put together a team of cutting-edge design tools, top-class creative employees and 13 of the world's best athletes to take on the challenge of developing products that create future opportunities in the area of performance footwear.

Nike has only set one rule for this project: Thirteen athletes from the fields of running, soccer, basketball and tennis represent Nike's characteristic innovation, Nike AIR, at the center of their visions.

The result is a collection of 13 daring shoe concepts that explore new opportunities for AIR. This project is called AIR (Athlete Imagined Revolution). The AIR concept also expresses the hopes and dreams of athletes.

Every AIR process consists of two phases.

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Stage 1: Inform and Inspire

To kick things off, Nike innovators were divided into design teams for the 13 Nike athletes in four sports: athletics, soccer, basketball and tennis. As with everything at Nike, the first step was to listen to the voice of the athletes.

The teams addressed the athletes with a list of questions about their ideal shoe models. Did they want something conservative or something wild? A holistic design or something that is defined by a single component?

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Something monolithic or fractal? Other questions related to the background of the athletes. Which people, places, or things inspired them? How could the shoe represent athletes in practice? Personality, playing style, physical presence. Just anything. There were no taboos during these talks.

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This approach means exploring the “Athlete's Truth,” says Roger Chen, Nike VP, NXT, Digital Product Creation — an almost cellular understanding of design that helps athletes think, feel and perform at their best.

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According to Chen, this phrase served as a cornerstone for the entire design process. When a sprinter competes for the 100-meter run and has a deep confidence that every element, including spikes, has prepared her for victory, that is the “athlete's truth,” he says.

And it is a parameter that cannot be quantified and requires extreme trust from both sides.

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“Getting to an athlete’s truth requires authentic relationships,” says Chen. “You need to know who you’re serving. At Nike, everything hinges on how well we know our athletes.”

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Once the prompts had run their course, the result was overwhelming: hundreds of examples of AI-created visuals for all athletes, all created in an instant to provide Nike designers with plenty of inspiration points for the 13 final prototypes.

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For Chen and his team, the results generated by AI became a tool with which they could deepen relationships with athletes faster and in a more targeted manner.” AI exponentially increases our creative process,” says Chen.

“Creating these starting points used to take us months to do. Now, we can create them in seconds. We liken AI to a sharper, more intelligent pencil.

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The designer is still in control. It’s what you do with the pencil that creates the magic. We gave these generative programs entire worlds to reflect back to us, and they did that. But that doesn’t happen without the thorough listening sessions our teams conducted with our athletes.”

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Phase Two: Ideate and Build

After taking stock of the hundreds of AI images, the teams put the intelligent pencil aside and did what they do best: They designed exactly according to the specifications of top athletes.

The 13 teams used the shapes, textures, generative figures, and even the entire worlds of AI images as inspiration to commit to three radical shoe concepts that manifest a new expression of Air — which was easier said than done. In some cases, designers had to work against the bias of AI algorithms to create homogenized concepts around AIR.

“We noticed that a lot of the AI images interpreting Air were bound by a similar fluid aesthetic,” says Chen. “The programs tend to naturally express Air as more organic, more flowy. We focused on the inspiration points that would push each concept in a specific, distinct direction.“

After the designers have landed on the three concepts, the ultimate feedback is now coming — the reviews from the athletes. Every detail of the concepts was discussed, including the features they would like to have considered for aesthetic and functional reasons.

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Chen recalled an early session the team had with Eliud Kipchoge when the marathon runner gave his feedback on an initial concept. The shoe had a slanted, flattened heel at the end, which was reminiscent of a carbon spring on a racing shoe.

On paper, the aerodynamic design seemed a safe bet. After studying digital representation in peace, Kipchoge took a piece of paper from the notebook and began making his own sketches.

Kipchoge drew a version of the concept himself, but added another special feature. He asked the team to connect the hollowed out area towards the heel. He explained this by the fact that the rock from unpaved paths would get caught in the spring-like shape of the platform when running, says Chen.

“He saw problems in how his shoe would operate in his training environment that we hadn’t yet considered.” Innovative design is created when all participants — designers, athletes, and AI — can question unintended assumptions.

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As Chen and the design team listened to 100-meter world champion Sha'Carri Richardson's feedback on their concepts, there was a descriptive word she used for her design in the air: graceful.

“When you think of Sha’Carri, you think of strength, power and determination,” says Chen. But when the design team spoke to Sha'Carri about her concepts, she told the designers she didn't want a spike that looked like a combat sandal.

“Her dream was for her foot to have this oneness, this harmony with the plate construction of the spike, which is why we focused on the underfoot unit beautifully blending into the upper and up the leg sleeve,” says Chen.

“It was a great example of how our athletes embody so many traits at once. We wanted their prototypes to do the same.”

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When designers received feedback from athletes, the next step was to put it into practice. The teams plunged into the meticulous work of creating the prototypes using their disciplinary expertise, an instinct that the team describes as “intuitive reading.”

Many of the inspiration points returned by AI programs are laughably wild. If they were converted into a prototype, the shoe would never withstand the rigors of a three-hour tennis match on a hot hard court in Melbourne or the 360-degree movements of a grueling NBA game.

Does such a shoe look like a basketball shoe? For designers, the question is: If not, why not? Conversely, with a successful prototype that has the potential to become a true performance product, teams must ask themselves the question: If so, how?

What insights from A.I.R. could one day help to design a future product? To find the answers, the teams used all the advanced tools available to Nike to create the prototypes, such as immersive 3D sketching, computer-aided design, 3D printing and simulation, as well as traditional methods such as hand sketches.

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Take Paralympian and tennis player Diede de Groot. Diede must keep her feet in her wheelchair and her shoes must not distract her from playing. The team couldn't use Air as underfoot cushioning in the traditional sense, but the term Air still had to authentically fit their vision.

The solution: The shoe should be designed in such a way that it can be quickly and easily connected to your wheelchair, similar to a cycling shoe, and at the same time provide the necessary cushioning with air in the outer material.

Thanks to digital methods such as simulation, designers were able to test the grip, limitation and durability of de Groot's shoe on a computer before a real prototype was printed.

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“A beautiful part of the project was getting such diverse minds all around the table creating together, layering different techniques and technologies over one another,” says Chen.

“We were constantly learning from each other. It’s the Nike way of uniting different disciplines to create something new.” Nike's manufacturing capabilities allowed teams to quickly produce physical components to personally evaluate design shapes in real time.

This shows the full performance of Nike equipment, from fast 3D printers in Concept Creation Center, which review design theories, including Air MI-Nike machines — located in a building a mile from Nike World Headquarters — that can form an air unit never seen before. Manufacturing brought another advantage to the design process: You can see the subtle imperfections of the real object, which can then be improved.

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Tennis pro Zheng Qinwen was inspired by her country of origin for her concept: The Nike Air prototype has the shape of a twisted kite, which provides support and stability, and the dragon scales act as a durable traction construction.

Back in the work area, a designer holds up Qinwen's pattern; the light above the table illuminates the total orange of the snake-shaped air unit. The recesses of the clip, an arrangement of kite scales that look like a towing device, adapt perfectly to the geometry of the underlying air unit, a feature that only becomes apparent upon closer inspection.

In an earlier prototype, the textures of the clip did not reflect the textures of the underlying unit. The Nike developers therefore created a new pattern and deepened it so that the scales matched the geometry of the unit perfectly.

In addition, the sample was computationally amplified in heavily used areas, a finding based on extensive data from wear tests by NSRL (Nike Sport Research Laboratory) is declining.

“Not many people will see the level of obsession that goes into these final designs,” says the designer. “The important thing is that we did it.”

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The Final Athlete Concepts

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Dina Asher-Smith

The British sprinter was inspired by the beauty of haute couture and wanted a footbed that was tailored to both functionality and elegance.

The air unit in the forefoot area is mathematically designed for lightweight stability and is located under an elegant mesh upper. The TPU heel clip, which is based on an elegant slingback, is easy to remove as soon as Asher-Smith is on the starting line.

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Rai Benjamin

The hurdler's passion for cycling has shaped the design of his spike, both literally and technically.

Air must act as a type of suspension when applied to extreme forces, so it was positioned on the forefoot and heel, which was connected by a ribbed metatarsal plate inspired by hurdles.

On its right spike, the AIR unit is enclosed on the lateral side in the forefoot area and exposed on the medial side, which is similar to a dual-density construction to support Benjamin in curves.

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Diede de Groot

The tennis player plays a smooth, constantly moving playing style, which is occasionally combined with explosive bursts of speed.

She wanted Air to provide strong internal support throughout the outer material without weighing it down. The heel flap is inspired by flyease technology, and the clip mechanism under the outsole is quick and easy to attach to your wheelchair.

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Erling Haaland

The particular shape of the Haaland design represents a moment frozen in time — the curvature of the foot when stepped on. The outer material with its unique air pattern and design creates impact when in contact with the ball.

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Sam Kerr

The Australian striker knows she gets a lot of lift with Air, especially when she performs one of her famous backflips.

The heel and forefoot are equipped with large, exposed air units that extend over the entire surface. Microtextures in the forefoot area should help her control the ball while an upside down swoosh runs across the shaft.

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Eliud Kipchoge

The best marathon runner in the world was drawn to a design that ranged from technical to naturalistic.

Kipchoge was convinced that “the more you squeeze, the more juice you get” from the air cushioning and added a visible air unit in the forefoot area, which is provided with juice-like, stretchy fibers. The rocker in the beveled heel is inspired by his meticulous insights into the development of the legendary Alphafly line.

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Faith Kipyegon

The middle distance champion loves the feeling of training in trail shoes, and she wanted the full-length air sole in her design to provide uncompromising support so that she could survive any sudden change in weather.

The studded outsole allows mud to easily fall off in harsh conditions. The outer material provides a secure, bootie-like fit, while the computer-calculated pearl textures are inspired by a bracelet she wears in honor of her daughter, which is also symbolized by a small swoosh on the heel.

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Kylian Mbappé

For Mbappé, Air is about general speed, the benefits of which can be transferred to all sports.

Its design features a continuous air plate in the underfoot area, which ensures responsiveness, while the profile of the shoe is inspired by the function of a spike and the speed of a jet. The profile is designed for pure, linear acceleration.

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Zheng Qinwen

In Qinwen's design, Air is both holistic and carefully coordinated. The Air unit wraps completely around the front and midfoot of the shoe and its snake-shaped construction is inspired by the year of the dragon in the Chinese lunar calendar.

In areas that are required for extreme lateral protection, traction is reinforced by a pattern based on dragon scales. The studded texture of the shaft is based on the bone structure of real wings.

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Sha'Carri Richardson

For Richardson, Air had to embody three core values: self-confidence, tirelessness, and grace. The air unit in the forefoot area changes from “Total Orange” to “Neutral” and then moves towards the raised heel.

This is a visual clue inspired by her desire for a sense of unity between her foot and her spike. The computer-calculated outer material merges into a beautiful double helix pattern that wraps around the shin bone.

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Vinicius Junior

The Brazilian soccer player is like lightning on the pitch, and Air makes use of his speed through the slim, responsive profile. The shoe's cleats are angled outwards to support quick twists and movements when dribbling.

Viewed up close, the outer material has a distinctive, computer-calculated pattern that continues in the forefoot area and reinforces the regions where it needs optimal grip for ball control.

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Victor Wembanyama

At home, the 1.70 m tall striker loves running barefoot and feeling as close to the ground as possible. He wanted the Air unit to be designed for low responsiveness, with the Air unit running under the forefoot and across the lateral side of the shoe to contain it.

The pixelated, fractal appearance of the unit is inspired both by his love of science fiction and jewelry, such as the bismuth stone he used in the NBA Draft Night wore. In addition, the outer material features an abstract computer print.

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A'ja Wilson

Just like her game, A'ja's design is designed so that she can adapt and develop in any situation on the playing field. For the dynamic and versatile player, Air stands for support and a catalyst for unexpected movements with every step.

The concept embodies her unpredictable nature and is reminiscent of her unparalleled abilities as a left-handed woman. When it goes to the left, the slits on the upper material of the shoe gracefully widen and reveal the air design.

The design serves as a visual testament to her agility and finesse, which allows her to float while maintaining a firm connection to the ground.

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The Unreal Becomes Real

The process is repeated, with designers getting further feedback on the patterns, refining the details of the prototype, printing more components, and returning to the drawing board when needed. Mood boards in the work area, which display an athlete's latest patterns, are dismantled within a few hours and rebuilt with updated renderings and materials.

At the end of an unprecedented development period, the Nike A.I.R. prototypes were ready to be presented in Paris. That is the textbook definition of the iterative process. And it is also a sign of the creative process in which each shape is a piece of rock that is removed from all sides to reveal the art underneath.

For Hoke, from the very first minute on, the project had a vision that was as ambitious as the acronym A.I.R.. Athletes are the most important factor for which Nike develops products, says Hoke. Imagined is the inspiration Nike draws from “artificial intelligence” as an instrument. revolution It means exactly that: A revolution in the way Nike works.

“Our mastery of our generative tools allows us to hear athletes with a specificity that’s unmatched,” says Hoke. “IIn unskilled hands, AI can create designs that are full of generalities. But after listening to our athletes, we harness the conceptual power of AI and use it to get at the heart of what an athlete needs, creating a new working process. We can obsess over a product, and AI becomes a creative co-conspirator with us.”

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Hoke says that emerging tools like AI are giving Nike designers the opportunity to go beyond listening. He calls it parametric innovation, an offshoot of parametric design. Algorithms produce raw concepts based on inputs — and that's when the process stops.

Here, the relationship between man and machine becomes linear and transactional, almost like handing over the baton in a relay race. A.I.R. challenged Nike's design teams to create new, iterative relationships with their generative tools, optimize inputs between program and person, and refine the characteristics of a shoe until it reflects the essence of the athlete.

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Hoke agrees that good listening starts with good relationships, which Nike has taken for granted since the company was founded more than 50 years ago.

What is new and sometimes breathtaking is the “speed and precision” with which Nike designers can work by combining AI and their relationships with athletes. The future of design at Nike isn't the tools. It is Nike's attitude to its tools and the bridge these tools build to deepen the relationship between athletes and designers.

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On April 11, the 13 reality-changing prototypes were presented on illuminated pedestals as the highlight of the Nike On Air event. But Hoke was right. A.I.R. is just getting started. “There’s no going back,” he says. “Form and function — meet fantasy.”

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Photos via Nike