Nike launch Makers’ Experience that enables fully customised trainers in under 90 minutes

Nike have partnered with Wieden+Kennedy’s tech division The Lodge to facilitate a unique experience that enables customers to fully customise and create a pair of trainers in under 90 minutes. The premise of the project is to introduce a more personalised, live design experience to a consumer – similar to the relationship Nike have with their athletes. The experience has launched in their Nike By You Studio @ 45 Grand in New York.

Visitors to the Nike Makers’ Experience are presented with the choice of the classic Presto or the new Presto X (an exclusive style to this experience). They can then begin the process of customisation which sees the shoes projected on mirrors around the room. By merging digital design, traditional footwear making and voice-activated commands, customers can change the colour, pattern, zoom in and out or add words to their shoes. For example, “one could start by using a birthday or anniversary. From that typographical input, patterns are then created and scaled to taste. Colour choice and graduation are nearly infinite, too. And that’s just the tip of the customisation iceberg.” For now, the experience is invite only. However, Nike envision this as the future of their retail stores – "In our minds, this is tomorrow, today,” said Mark Smith, Nike’s vice-president of innovation and special projects via a press release issued on Nike’s website.