Just Another Nike Blog

MARS YARD CRIB

MARS YARD MID

MARS YARD BT

Experimentation in young athlete footwear has existed at Nike since the 1970s. At various times, the company's designers have worked to find solutions that allow children's feet to grow and be strong in the transition from crawling to walking. A 1980 shoe made by Tinker Hatfield served two purposes: First, the project served to familiarize the architect-by-training with cobbling practices and second, it allowed him to consider the specific needs of a baby athlete. That shoe, made of green suede with an orange Swoosh, is the point of departure for long-time Nike collaborator Tom Sachs. His investigation of children's footwear is manifested by crib- and toddler-sized versions of the Mars Yard and Mars Yard Overshoe. "The Sachs studio is a professional athletic team. Our sport is making sculpture. Nike makes performance products for the needs of championship athletes worldwide, and Nike makes our uniforms," says Sachs. "Bottom line, my son, Guy Louis Armst...

The story of the Nike x Tom Sachs Poncho is a reminder that good solutions take time to solidify. The product’s simplicity is deceiving. Its shapeshifting nature was perfected over the course of four years, dozens of prototypes, countless tests and innumerable hacks. The poncho began life in 2015 as one output of a design challenge to consider transforming apparel, and was undertaken by Jarrett Reynolds, Nike's senior design director for apparel special projects, and others. Reynolds was initially intrigued by the idea of a slimline pack complete with a quick-deploy poncho that pulled swiftly from its carry and could be easily repacked after use. "We used a tear-away zipper for the first incarnation. It allowed for the explosion — the forceful billowing that allowed the wearer to quickly get into the poncho — but it was really difficult to set up," says Reynolds. A collection of prototypes, including one made shortly after Sachs had an "ah-ha" moment on ...