With the knowledge that a child’s foot works and moves differently than an adult’s, Nike tasked itself with creating a new line of sports performance footwear built specially for young athletes. The result is the innovative new Future Series, unveiled by the brand today.
Typically, kids’ athletic sneakers are merely scaled-down versions of the adult sizing. Realizing that this was simply not good enough for ideal comfort and performance for kids, Nike set out to rethink smaller footwear from the ground up.
Working with kids in the Nike Sport Research Lab, movement specialists discovered a few key components that were taken into account: children’s angle of movement is more extreme compared with adults’ because they’re closer to the ground, they’re predominantly heel strikers when walking and running, and they prefer lightweight footwear.
And the designers achieved the perfect performance footwear for kids by broadening the foot form in the front to give kids more space for their movements, using less glue to maintain a truly lightweight style and implementing soft cushioning for both comfort and protection (the designers were inspired by a puppy paw, which has a softer surface to provide cushioning, but it’s surrounded by firmer skin for traction and stability).
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The Future Series begins with two models, the Future Speed for running and the Future Flight for basketball. Key features of each include dual-density foams utilized in the sole and lightweight uppers that allow for natural movement and growth within the shoe.
The brand states that these debut models are just the beginning for the new line of child-specific performance sneakers and that they will continue to research and develop the technology.
The Future Speed and Future Flight both launch July 1 on Nike.com.
