The Year in Innovation

These digital and design products underscore the company’s commitment to innovations that further athlete potential.

Made famous during Nike’s Breaking 2 attempt, Nike’s 4% system has redefined fast. The system consists of tooling that features ultra-lightweight and soft Nike ZoomX foam that’s capable of providing up to 85-percent energy return and has an embedded full-length curved carbon fiber plate that increases stiffness to provide a sensation of propulsion. Together, these features deliver an average of 4-percent improvement in running economy when compared to Nike’s previous fastest racing flat. An external study backs up the shoe’s performance claims: “The prototype [Nike Vaporfly 4%] shoes lowered the energetic cost of running by 4 percent on average. We predict that with these shoes, top athletes could run substantially faster and achieve the first sub-2-hour marathon.” – Hoogkamer, W., Kipp, S., Frank, J.H. et al. Sports Med (2017). The system, as employed in the Nike Zoom Vaporfly Elite and Nike Zoom Vaporfly 4%, has earned 19 top podium spots while on the feet of the world’s most elite runners in the six major marathons this year. Beyond, it allows for the ability to custom craft and individually tune it for the exact needs of specific athletes, as well as to scale it to meet the needs of the everyday athlete. Thus, it’s a strong example of how Nike is able to deliver unrivaled performance benefits that have the potential to elevate every runner.

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Over recent years, meetings with elite athletes at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, illuminated performance problems associated with wearing a traditional hijab for sport (including the garment’s weight, the potential for it to shift during action and its lack of breathability). After creating performance hijab prototypes and testing them on a variety of elite and everyday hijabi athletes, Nike designers dialed in the final pull-on design that’s constructed from durable single-layer Nike Pro power mesh. The lightweight polyester features tiny holes for optimal breathability but remains opaque and soft to the touch. The mesh is stretchy, so when combined with an elastic binding it allows for a personalized fit that adapts to both the wearer’s head and her sport. By providing Muslim athletes with groundbreaking products such as the Nike Pro Hijab, Nike aims to serve today’s pioneers as well as inspire even more women and girls who still face limited support for or access to sport.

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The Nike FE/NOM Flyknit Bra is a new generation of bra that aims to maximize support and comfort to allow women to feel and look amazing while doing anything they choose. It offers all of the support, strength and comfort of traditional high-support bras even without all of the components: The Nike FE/NOM Flyknit Bra has two panels and a binding whereas other high-support Nike bras can have up to 41 pieces and 22 seams, it’s also 30-percent lighter than any other bra in Nike’s line and offers full coverage for total confidence during any activity. And thanks to the forgiving yet supportive nature of the Nike Flyknit construction, Nike is able to deliver high support in a pullover bra in a broad size range and is currently working to extend to more size options in the future. But beyond the bra itself, the most exciting result of bringing Nike Flyknit technology to a sports bra is that it opens a massive door for innovation across apparel and advances Nike on its path toward breaking down the barriers women face in sports and life.

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Through the SNKRS app, Nike ignites consumer energy by expanding the community and functionality of SNKRS with new ways to engage, including through the SNKRS AR Camera. The SNKRS AR Camera uses augmented reality technology to unlock the ability to purchase certain limited-edition sneakers within a select image where the sneakers can only be seen and unlocked by viewing the image via the camera function on SNKRS. The Nike SB Dunk High Pro Momofuku was the first shoe to drop this way. When David Chang’s Fuku East Village menu or an image of it was viewed through SNKRS, an interactive 3D model of the Nike SB Dunk High Pro Momofuku was overlaid. As with all of the other SNKRS initiatives, this allowed the purchase of the shoe while supplies lasted. Through this feature, Nike is expanding the digital community and reimagining the future intersection of digital and physical sneaker experiences.

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Designer Jason Petrie wanted the overall vibe of LeBron James’ latest shoe to be aggressive, stylish, modern and classic. Flyknit, with its texture and dimension, defined the aesthetic from the get-go. But LeBron’s specific needs demanded something more than what knit uppers, to date, could provide for him structurally and also in the way that he wanted it to come to life, which required designers to create a new iteration of Flyknit, called Nike BattleKnit. They knit this an entirely new way and were able to engineer the protection, stretch and performance specifications for each area of the shoe. The result is an all-in-one package that allows LeBron to feel locked down and protected and also to be able to move freely to dictate the action on court and to respond and react when he needs. Beyond the dialed design and custom fit, using Flyknit meant creating much less waste in the shoe-making process. The LEBRON 15 proves that the designers and James have found a groove not only in the familiar but also in where to push boundaries.

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Nike React, Nike’s latest cushioning innovation born out of athletes’ requests for shoes that had more cushion and more energy return and more durability is a significant breakthrough in footwear foam. It’s part of Nike’s cushioning revolution, redefining what’s possible with foam and other cushioning platforms — such as the Nike Air VaporMax and Nike Zoom Vaporfly 4% featuring ZoomX — to deliver options for every athlete. After more than 400 hundred combinations of chemistry and processing, and using scientific methods to dial in on materials with certain amenable attributes, Nike’s innovators, in-house chemists and mechanical engineers landed the unique composition of Nike React foam. From there, they put Nike React through more than 2,000 hours of basketball testing, where it proved to be the most durable foam and to deliver greater energy return than any other Nike basketball shoe. Because Nike developed the proprietary foam in-house, it has the opportunity to scale it across multiple athletes and sports.

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The first of it’s kind Nike NBA Jersey is the first product from Nike to feature the all-new NikeConnect experience platform. Tapping in to the new Nike NBA Jersey (via a special NFC chip located behind the Jock Tag) with the NikeConnect app unlocks personal, next-level access to athletes, exclusive offers and the game right on a smartphone. This innovative marriage of apparel and digital technology gives NikePlus members and NBA fans access to incredible product, customized content and exclusive experiences. This includes a direct link to latest scores, stats and game times, as well as a blend of on-court performance and off-court highlights, including recap videos and instantly shareable GIFs, related to your jersey’s player and team. Members will also gain access to exclusive offers just by tapping in on game days, such as exclusively licensed product, NBA 2K18 boosts, score tickets to games, Apple Music playlists from athletes themselves and many more to-be-announced experiences coming later this season. The Nike NBA Connected Jersey gives fans an entirely new way to Tap In to the Game.

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