Beyond excited to see this come to life. It’s incredible to see the design vision persevere. This one is special.
My design was just a small part and this product and this could not be possible without all the hard work by everyone making it a reality.
Will be posting process soon.
From Craft:
Introducing the Kype Pro – our fastest shoe yet, engineered to push the boundaries of performance and innovation. Featuring an ultra-lightweight carbon plate from Arris Composites for unmatched propulsion, a cutting-edge breathable upper for ultimate support, and ultra-responsive Pebax foam that energizes every stride. For those driven by speed and ready to break new limits, the Kype Pro is crafted to elevate you beyond your best."
If you are in NYC, drop by the Craft pop-up event on today until the marathon Nov 3. They are also hosting a bunch of special events included a 50k run a Take the Bridge run and a shakeout.
Cool, I like the Craft brand. One of the few that didn’t plaster meaningless graphics all over, at least 7-8 ago when I had my running stint.
Curious about who approached who on this project? Did you go to the HQ in Sweden?
I’m interested in that split heel, reminds me of goat’s hoof in reverse. Can’t seem to find an explation, what’s the idea? Are you sure small stones won’t get stuck there? That was a big problem on some Nikes I had that had a similar big deep crease in the middle.
Craft is a pretty unqiue brand with a very long history in Sweden, starting in apparel. They are pretty new to running and very new to running shoes. They are pretty tiny compared to many brands.
I got this project through a lot of business development work. Took me a long time to get the name of the right person and went back and forth for probably more than a year after first contact to line something up.
They have a great footwear team in the US responsible for all product, but I was able to share my expertise as a runner and in high performance design to take their shoes to the next level.
I can’t speak to the design story/process yet (soon), but can say that the design is purposeful and has been thoroughly tested.
As I’ve run in tons of shoes I’ve very familiar with the problem of rocks getting stuck in the bottom.
I didn’t get a chance to visit HQ in Sweden and I didn’t do development on this (handover was at Tech Pack), but I took the project from provided brief through Strategy & Positioning, full design (upper/outsole) and spec to tech pack. Plus I also introduced Craft to Arris for the plate and was involved in some of the initial plate technical exploration.
I actually haven’t run in the final sample yet, only early protos, but will be getting my hands on a pair shortly.
Some real life pics from the pop-up by a friend who stopped by.
I have to say Craft has done an excellent job on the storytelling and marketing visuals for the launch of the shoe. Nice to see. That doesn’t always happen.
They also nailed the launch colorway. I didn’t do colors and materials for this one though the carry-through of the color from the midsole up the heel to the heel webbing was part of the original design and is even in some of the the original sketches.
This looks like a rather conservative approach to enter the running shoe market with out a lot of risk.
Curious to know some of the other concept approaches that were left on the cutting room floor, but shelved for a future that builds success in the running markets.
Will we see these settle into the mega-yacht circuit or the winner’s podium?
The super shoe category has been around for awhile; enough to establish some key criteria: <>200g of weight, 8-10 drop , carbon plate, generous PEBA midsole (44mm), nylon mesh uppers, to name a few. The Kype Pro (KP) moderately ticks all the boxes of a first rate trainer/racing shoe and shares design DNA with several other shoes on the market.
With a singular mesh upper, (and few if any interior features) the KP looks to be more a pure racer and not as much a training shoe. So it’s clear that trying to be among the lightest plate shoes on the market was one of the top priorities. Hence the weight reducing void that extends all the way through and splits the midsole out the back. But it is not clear why Craft chose to cautiously add outsole rather than running on PEBAX only (ex. Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1)
Nike’s Vapor Fly 3 appears to be the plate shoe to beat for now. The KP has similar featuring of the VF3 in order to be a direct competitor. However, this comparison is where Craft’s conservative approach is apparent. With no midsole texture pattern, a minimal outsole design, simplified eyelets and tongue that appears to be featureless, the KP has opted for a less flashy (cautious) and less refined (moderate) form and function approach. It leans hard on its colorization only to attract attention and differentiate itself.
The KP’s only bold form risk taking area of the design appears to be in the rear. The wap around heel counter detail (similar to the Saucony Endorphin Elite) which is part of the midsole, and of course the split midsole strike area along with the bright yellow pull tab is where the uniqueness is on this shoe. Everywhere else is understated, moderate and cautious.
I wonder what Craft observed when testing the split rear midsole. I’d love to hear the arguments for it as it does raise heel strike stability issues from its unique appearance.
A bold move by Craft entering the market at the top end (not conservative). But the design is still moderate and cautious I think when compared to others in the market. Hey…conservative is the new radical counter culture in design. Very on trend.
The color blocking is a strong suit but still conservative imo. My only concern is the “clown factor” when seen in the wild. If your not first across the finish line in these shoes, you will be derided for wearing those “clown shoes”.
Yes, weight is important, but it’s not everything. The geometry and ride of shoe is as important to most runners (ie. not elites but also elites) as weight. How it feels (rocker, stability, softness, rebound, etc.) is important.
The EVO 1 is not PEBAX. It’s aTPU. It’s also not running on the midsole alone and has an outsole, both rubber (continental) and CPU material. An outsole not only adds durability (SCF foams are not very durable to abrasion), but also grip is important. You can’t get good propulsion if you slip and you can’t run fast if you are not confident and sliding all over the ground.
There are a lot of details you can’t clearly see in the photos that are circulating online. There is indeed a midsole texture. There are eyelet TPU no-sew overlays. There are heel collar lining pads. etc.
There’s a difference between minimalism and boring. Craft as a brand is routed in Scandinavian modern and minimalism. In a market where everyone is shouting, you can stand out by being quiet vs. shouting louder. Craft takes this approach to refined performance through less decoration, less aggressive lines and less is more in materialization.
The cut out and heel design is as you noted novel. It also reveals the ARRIS carbon plate which is also unique (Brooks uses one similar, but it’s quite different than the plates most shoes have). The rear visual is what you see when you chase a runner and is a signature as is the upper/outsole visual line.
The split heel is not only visual, but through geometry allows a wider platform for better stability without weight penalty. A huge issue with higher stack race shoes is inherit instability.
In short, things are the way they are for a reason. And while I don’t take being “conservative” as necessarily a bad thing, there’s also a subtlety to design in this space where mm make a difference and at the end of the day you need to run in it to really know.
I should be able to talk a lot more in a week or so and have a ton of process sketches and work to share.
I’m not sure where I saw your moodboard for this, but I’m pretty sure there was a Volvo 850 wagon on it. On some sketches you have vertical pillar “lights”. Is that a direct inspiration or am I reading too much into it? Pretty cool if yes, too bad that detail didn’t make it!
Also, some cardboard prototype photo hinted at a split upper at the back above the heel. Has there been any shoe that did that to avoid heel blisters? Like slippers with full lenght sidewalls that somehow still kept the shoe on your foot, like a strap above the ankle or something…
Yes. Lots of Volvos on the boards. Craft is from Sweden and the Confident Mininalidm was something I was trying to connect with. Well built. Not fragile. Bold but refined.
The heel lines and vertical visual was inspired in part by this. The idea was to have a wide platform for stability but still stable. Like a catamaran. The rear look I tried to innovate on based on the “follow” view. If this shoe is fast, you only see the back!
The upper was not split. The foam sample is showing a split in the extra high rear sidewall heel cup. It didn’t work out like this in the end but the heel pull and color still echoes the idea.
