Designing the Sneaker of the Future

Bold Names

The Wall Street Journal

Technology

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 19 April 2024

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Can technology help us design the perfect running shoe that’s stronger, faster and better for the environment? David Allemann, co-founder of On, thinks technology can get us part of the way there, but it’s not the whole story. The performance running shoe and sportswear company is experimenting with computer simulation and bio-based materials to design sneakers to advance both runners and sustainability goals. WSJ men’s fashion columnist Jacob Gallagher speaks with Allemann about the future of running shoe tech and how sneakers might redefine the design cannon. What do you think about the show? Let us know on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or email us: [email protected] Further reading: How On’s Running Sneakers Won Over Tech Bros and High Fashion Alike Where Did All the Crazy Sneakers Go? This Designer Knows What Sneakers You’ll Be Wearing Next Year These Grandpa Sneakers Are Made in America. They’re a Hit Overseas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:07.0	Do more and spend less like Uber 8 by 8 and DataBrix Mosaic.
0:12.0	Take a free test drive of OCI at Oracle.com
0:15.5	slash Wall Street.
0:16.3	Have you been for a run lately,
0:21.5	or maybe just a stroll down the street. Did you notice what shoes people were wearing?
0:26.6	Maybe you saw a relatively simple sneaker with a rather elaborate soul. It's bizarre, almost alien, defined by a halo of hollowed out cubes.
0:37.2	This peculiar soul, dubbed Cloud Tech, has been the defining characteristic of the featherweight
0:42.2	running shoes produced by On, a Zurich-based
0:45.1	footwear company which launched in 2010. Unlike the solid foundation of traditional running shoes,
0:51.2	An's soul has sizable almost ungainly gaps between each cube.
0:55.5	It sort of looks like a mouth in dire need of braces. Athletes and tech
1:00.3	bros alike seem to be sporting the stealthy statement sneaker and while on
1:05.0	on doesn't have the market share of Nike Adidas or New Balance, the company
1:09.2	which makes apparel as well as their signature running shoes is currently worth around
1:14.3	$10.4 billion.
1:16.7	If you ask Aons co-founder David Alaman, part of the secret to that success is constant innovation
1:22.4	and an eye on how to design for the future.
1:25.5	It's now really not going back to the past and the archive, but it's about going to the future.
1:30.8	And so it's an interesting moment that also a lot of classical fashion brands and luxury brands have to look to the future and basically say, hey, how do we do this?
1:42.0	How do we not go back to the archive, but how do we look at innovation?
1:46.0	From the Wall Street Journal, this is the future of everything.
	...

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