The Nike ISPA team (Improvise; Scavenge; Protect; Adapt), which experiments with new, unorthodox products and manufacturing methods, will introduce a new shoe model this spring that showcases the brand’s innovative capabilities and offer a glimpse into the future of circular design: The Nike ISPA Link. And in 2023, the next evolution will be launched, the Nike ISPA Link Axis.
As the climate crisis has intensified, Nike’s teams have shifted into a higher gear, using circular design principles as creative accelerators. This includes the ten principles outlined in the Nike 2019 Circular Design Guide, an open-source workbook that shares findings and insights with the larger design community and anyone interested in how design can help reduce the impact on the planet.
This season, the ISPA team looked at the principle of circular design – the ability to easily disassemble a product to recycle its contents – as one of the more challenging principles to implement in footwear design. Recycling shoes typically requires shredding, an energy-intensive process that limits the use of recycled materials. Developing a shoe that can be disassembled would reduce the product’s carbon footprint and open up new possibilities for its lifecycle.
So the ISPA team took on the challenge of disassembly first and foremost. “Designed in partnership with engineering, digital product creation and development, these shoes are completely informed by method of make — it really is a case of form following function,” said Darryl Matthews, VP, catalyst footwear product design. “We hope these ideas and aesthetics become the norm and accelerate our ability to imagine how footwear will evolve in the future.”
The Nike ISPA Link will be released in June. It has three interlocking modules connected without any glue that can be taken apart and dropped off at Nike stores offering the Nike Recycling & Donation service. According to Nike, the Link is also revolutionary from a production standpoint: a pair takes just 8 minutes to assemble, as no glue is needed for any part — not even the midsole.
In early 2023, the Link Axis will follow, building on the Link but with a 100 percent recycled polyester Flyknot upper that fits precisely over the outsole (still traditionally connected by the cut-and-sew method in the Link). Its 100 percent recycled TPU tooling is achieved by using scrap airbag material. In addition, the shoe has a 20 percent recycled TPU cage.
Nike has already experimented with modular shoes in the past, with the 2003 Presto Clip and the 2005 Zvezdochka. With the Link and Link Axis, Nike is further accelerating its move toward a circular, zero-carbon and zero-waste future. As Nike chief design officer John Hoke puts it, “We have a responsibility to consider the complete design solution: how we source, make, use, return and ultimately reimagine product. The goal is to make matter matter more.”
