I love this.
As a runner and running shoe designer, this is exciting.
https://www.on.com/en-us/lightspray
Here’s why-
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“Innovation” is all often a buzz word. This is not only actually new and novel, but is real innovation that solves a problem (material production, weight, etc.), not just different for the sake of being different.
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This is performance driven. The videos for this talk about a focus on winning and real world in-race testing and benchmarking. This is what running is all about and helps On overcome past criticism about useless cloudtech or too much emphasis in lifestyle. This reinforces the brand as a real leader in running.
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This is athlete specific. This isn’t for the everyday casual runner. But for a high performance athlete fit and weight are critical and this innovation could help. I’m curious how this feels on the feet without adjustment but I’ve been a big fan of sock fit footwear for forever. 170g is also quite svelte.
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This is a great story. There’s a video online about a student who created this tech before it was discovered and “developed” by On’s innovation team. It’s great to see the real inventor get credit among the team of people involved. On could have easily claimed to invent it and just paid the guy lots of money to be never heard from again.
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The sustainability factor here seems genuine. All too often there’s an icky greenwashing layer of marketing applied to performance innovations like this, but the reduction of materials, processes and recyclability feels real to me. This won’t be making millions of pairs and make a huge difference to total footwear production but I appreciate it’s not all BS.
Great job On. This might be the first On product I’m excited to try!