Nike Innovation Engine

Recently Nike launched a new innovation engine, their latest foray into blending design and tech to solve problems for athletes, and with it came a range of new products. We couldn't help but recall some other problem-solving tech-led Nike products that have been in the design spotlight recently.

First up is the Triax watch, straight out of the 90's. It's as if your arm was thrown into a futuristic blacksmiths. The melted metal over your wrist made you feel faster, like a kid sprinting back and forth in their new trainers.

Next up are some classic Y2K wraparound sunglasses. They weren't on Oakley's level, but every fashion-forward football fan in the 90's wished they had an excuse to look as iconic as Edgar Davids both on and off the pitch.

Both pieces would be a motherboard away from being classed as wearables were they to be released today. Yet Nike's sunglasses are still a step behind Oakley's design and a mile behind their Meta partnership. Their watch partnership with TomTom, which allowed for tracking via a sensor in a shoe, was eventually abandoned for the NRC app.

With the switch from Nike hardware to Nike software, they swapped tech for community, which is much like switching performance for brand. A great move to enamour the human element and build lasting relationships, but not necessarily one that can overcome the quiet creep of convenience offered by the far reaching tentacles of well-integrated consumer tech.

Beats by Dre went from start up to exit in 5 years, becoming a household name, and were culturally and technologically outstanding to the point of Apple acquiring them. What if Nike pushed further, became more technical, more integrated into human development? Would we be talking about Elliot Hill instead of Elon Musk offering a path to a human-led singularity? What if we could plug into the Nike Matrix and instantly know how to focus like Jordan, swing like Tiger, or even compute like Neo?

Nike are one of a few global brands that appeal to the front-line of youth fashion, senior fitness-revival tribes, and everyone in-between, all with the same logo. A partnership with a single tech giant wouldn't suffice, as they tend to embrace and usurp. Garmin could handle watches, Sony for glasses and headphones, 'Nothing' for an instant impact in the mobile landscape. Mergers could emerge, new rivalries be created, and consumers would benefit. With AI playing a role in the elevation of everything from development to design, and health and fitness becoming a new lifestyle standard, the playing field is already levelling.

It's a big what if, and a road we thought we were running down in the early 2000's. Perhaps it's just nostalgia, or perhaps all the pieces are ready to finally be moved into place.

Will Nike follow their existing path and DNA to be a design partner to tech giants, relegated to being a visual, mildly technical, remedy to the bland, commoditised, convenient, consumer tech world?

We know they'll continue to drive the world of athletic performance and demand forward, and strive to integrate scientific advancement into every piece. However, with Apple proving brand cache can transcend standalone tech and find its way into wearable fashion, Nike's lead could be closed, and we may wonder what could have been, had they chosen to just do it.