Matt Pauk, Senior Footwear Designer Nike
Nike has leveled a full on assault against every brand in footwear. This is both good and bad. The amount of product Nike is releasing requires an abundance of coverage just to keep up with the drops being delivered. This takes away from smaller brands attempting to gain some ground in the footwear industry. Take a moment to look at any sneaker/footwear related website and the information about other brands is almost non-existent. This is not a good thing. As Nike’s onslaught has primarily been in basketball and retro, they made explicit references during Investor’s Day to a series of strategies they were going to be implementing. Three strategies in particular are of considerable note; and those three are all in the performance running area which is a 5 Billion dollar a year industry with an abundance of niche players and established brands.
Nike is finally laying out the direction of their performance running with one of the three plays: Nike React
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oobBnkJWlA
Nike React initially appeared in basketball footwear. Which was a complete 180 from other brands introducing new tech. Typically a new cushion tech would be introduced in running footwear. The reason for this is simple. Running is a larger sport, it requires minimal tech and can be easily introduced in either a walking shoe or a performance running silhouette. The upper doesn’t require any heel counters, lockdown performance or support for torque based movements. Nike threw caution to the wind and dropped their new REACT cushion in the Hyperdunk and in some performance Jordan models. Tomorrow they will deliver the Flyknit Epic React.
The interesting thing about the Epic React is not what many think is important, it’s striking similarity to the adidas BOOST based performance shoes. What’s important is Epic React is the first stage of the new performance running strategy from Nike. The strategy began last year with the introduction of VaporMax. It continues this month and next with an updated VaporMax and with what Nike is labeling their Nike Air strategy. If Air was a standalone brand it would be the 3rd largest in the world. VaporMax will drive expansion and new demand. The new platform Air Max 270 is lifestyle specific. While the REACT that releases tomorrow will be an important drop for the brand, in much the same way that the Swoosh has dominated the information on sneakers with Nike Basketball and Jordan Brand releases, they will also dominate the end of February and throughout March with their introduction of Air Max 270, VaporMax 2 and a complete rollout of Air Max inspired runners for 3-26 aka Air Max Day. This push will carry the brand into April where they will then shift gears and begin to deliver a street inspired version of their Nike Zoom X cushioning.
The incredible thing is that every delivery from the brand caters to non-performance. Each release is clearly designed to be worn casually. Making Nike Epic React a shoe that continues to blur categories. The shoe will undoubtedly perform well giving a bump to performance footwear sales, but without the tag lifestyle it won’t be discussed by analysts as lifestyle which will tear at the walls of category further creating what Nike has always wanted: performance as lifestyle. The Epic React is a fresh introduction to the knit trend, but will quickly be blended and updated with classic retro release materials in versions featuring suede and mesh to provide a take down model of the Flyknit version. When you look at the Flyknit in the design of the shoe you can see the panels that will be utilized in creating a more traditional lifestyle version. (This was not discussed. It’s my own prediction). The Epic React will drop tomorrow, but it isn’t even the mid point of the delivery of the Nike running strategy and that’s a scary bit of information for the rest of the industry.
Note: a takedown version of the VaporX tech will arrive in a model that bears a striking resemblance to the marathon ready X tech, but it uses … REACT. The Vapor Street drops a day after the Epic REACT. Amazing.
Buy the Epic React now:
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