Sneaker culture and watch culture are similar in a lot of ways: an obsession with design, all things vintage, and now, experimenting to bring new technologies to a staid industry.
In the sneaker industry, Nike is at the forefront of this experimentation, and one shoe in particular: The Nike Adapt BB. Ahead of the shoe’s global release on February 17 (Michael Jordan’s birthday!), the Verge put together a video of them visiting Nike HQ to sample the shoe. The Verge brings its tech focus to the review, so highlights some of the cool things about the second-generation self lacing technology. It looks like the tech is getting better, even if we’re not yet at Back to the Future, Marty McFly level self lacing shoes yet. But, the video features a reviewer who is clearly — and admittedly — not a sneakerhead, so it skates over some of the cool aspects of the shoe’s place in sneaker culture. But, they do sit down with the shoe’s designer and all-around sneaker god Tinker Hatfield, who provides some always-insightful commentary.
The famous self-lacing shoe from the Back to the Future series.
In some ways, it’s a cool follow up to Tinker’s episode of Netflix’s documentary series Abstract: The Art of Design. That episode told the story of Tinker’s years at Nike, from being inspired by the inside-out look of the Centre Pompidou to create the first Air Max to his years collaborating with Michael Jordan on the Air Jordan series. The episode finishes with Tinker unveiling the Nike Adapt BB 1.0, featuring Nike’s E.A.R.L. self-lacing technology.
Now, Nike is ramping up to release Adapt BB 2.0, and we’re excited to see what the future brings for self-lacing technology.