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Nike Flyprint is the first 3D-printed textile upper in performance footwear. What it is not is a solution for footwear tooling, though that is something Nike has a long history with (examples can be found here, hereand here). At its most basic level, Nike Flyprint uppers are produced through solid deposit modeling (SDM), a process whereby a TPU filament is unwound from a coil, melted and laid down in layers. However, it is antithetical to Nike to go a basic route. Instead, the Flyprint method allows designers to translate athlete data into new textile geometries. In this, it advances Nike’s efforts in digitally enabled...

For the past five years, adidas’ BOOST foam has been on top and we’ve been waiting to see what Nike’s response would be for just as long. We can’t begin to guess the timeframe that the Swoosh work on, but many would posture that no matter how good Nike’s new React foam may be, it’s too late. On the other hand, Nike have had years of R&D to perfect the formula that may topple the adidas tech — an eternity in the lifespan of a sneaker. So, aesthetics aside, what are the chances that Nike’s React Foam could mark the end of the...