Five years after Nike and artist Tom Sachs debuted the NikeCraft Mars Yard, a shoe the brand said was inspired by Sachs’ interactions with NASA scientists, an improved iteration of the shoe will become available for purchase. And the process of getting the shoe — dubbed NikeCraft Mars Yard 2.0 — is just as atypical as the look itself.
To buy the shoe early, according to Nike, a “Space Camp” course inspired by a day in the life of Sachs’ studio must be completed. Nike said the course lasts an hour and is designed for people of all abilities to complete. A day in Sachs’ studio, Nike said, involves physical activities such as calisthenics, push-ups and deadlifts, and other tests including knot tying and drawing a straight line.
There will be two “Space Camp” experiences to buy the shoes early: a New York experience on June 8 and another in London this month.
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Sachs took five years to test the original NikeCraft Mars Yard, released in May 2012, and figure out how to perfect the design. The NikeCraft Mars Yard 2.0 now features a breathable polyester warp-knit tricot mesh instead of its original Vectran, a stronger X box stitch to hold together the red donning straps, an inverted thread on the outsole for a better wear in urban environments and a pair of insoles: one mesh and one cork.
“It passed the abrasion test. It passed the strength test. It passed the folding test. It passed all the tests, but when we started using it, it didn’t meet our expectations,” Sachs explained in a statement. “It’s not until you really wear something and realize … We used a new material, and we expected better.”
