Nike Hyperfuse Technology: An Education and Interview

Last week I got to attend a Nike event at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich to learn about Nike Hyperfuse technology. Here's what I learnt!

The main feature of Hyperfuse technology is that it has three layers of resilient material. The first layer is for stability, the second mesh layer is for breathability and the third is for durability. These three layers are fused together using heat and pressure to create a level of precision which is impossible to obtain using traditional cut-and-sew methods. This new technology has been merged with iconic silhouettes from Nike’s archive including Air Force One, Air Max One, Dunk Hi, and the Air Max 90. Basically this is a new, innovative, lightweight, high performance trainer that is more durable than any of its predecessors, and it looks pretty good too.

Hyperfuse was inspired basketball players seen on trips to China by Shane and the Innovation team. Here they found that Chinese basketball is very different to what it is in the USA. Firstly they play on hard outdoor ground nearly all the time unlike in the US where it’s largely based on an indoor court. Also, they often play in ridiculously hot heat.  Shane told us, “We watched the kids play and they were wearing everything but basketball shoes. So we started asking why.”

What the team realised was that they needed to make a shoe that was durable enough for outdoor use on the basketball court, but that was also functional enough for the sort of movements basketball players make. Shane explained, “Basketball players really tend to drag their feet on the floor, so we decided to add a third layer just protecting the areas that drag on the floor, and that really completed it. It was a true ‘a-ha!’ moment when we realised that if you put these two layers together then you basically create this great protection. And we were shocked at how strong it was! It has this kind of depth that hasn’t been seen before.”

So what about the archive silhouettes? Ben Shaffer, who has been designing product for Nike for nearly a decade, confessed that he was cautious about such classics being reinvented, “There’s a heritage there and something very important about our old products. It was a case of what’s taking it too far and also what do we want to stand for. Ultimately Nike stands for innovation. They stand for things getting better. All of our icons have been pieces of our past where we’ve tried to do that. It was a tough balance and a tough challenge and there was definitely some restraint. You’ve got to be cautious about who the real consumer is, so we did a lot of experimenting to find out what people wanted.”

It’s quite clear that Nike are, once again, ahead of the game when it comes to design, technology and style. The entire NBA Pro League team all wear Hyperfuse and it’s already the most worn on-court shoe ever. The success is China has also been extraordinary. Shane believes that, “If you look back five years from now you’ll say wow, that’s phenomenal, and that’s when the product changed.”