How do you design a record-breaking running shoe? In a radically different way than just a few years ago. Advances in materials research and Nike’s use of new technologies and digital design tools play a big role, says designer Leo Chang, Senior Director of Design Footwear Product Innovation Running. But what’s really changed is the way we think about form. It’s a paradigm shift.

A decade ago, the perfect shoe was thought to be minimal: low, very low, with ultra-low volumes and materials used sparingly. The midsole got thinner and thinner. The Nike Flyknit Racer, debuting Flyknit technology at the London 2012 Games, fit this category perfectly. It was an idea that dated back to Nike’s co-founder, the legendary Bill Bowerman, who minimized the shoe’s components by drawing the swoosh on the upper with a marker.

But things have changed, Chang says when I meet him at Nike’s Beaverton campus. He holds a special “teaching” prototype of the Alphafly 3, the marathon shoe coveted by runners worldwide and the spearhead of the Blueprint Pack, designed for this summer’s sports events and inspired by Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman (we talked about it here with Martin Lotti, Nike’s Chief Design Officer).

Chang shows me an anatomical model of the Alphafly 3, taking it apart “in layers” to detail all the key components: the sole, the thick ZoomX foam midsole, the reinforced Atomiknit 3.0 upper at the heel, the double-modulus Zoom Air under the forefoot, and the carbon fiber Flyplate.

The Alphafly 3, with its generous volumes, is reminiscent of the parametric architectures often mentioned in Domus’ conversation with Roger Chen, VP of NXT Digital Product Creation. It’s the direct heir of the Alphafly Next%, the super shoe that revolutionized running, shattered the previous marathon record, and further developed the incredible performance achieved with the Vaporfly. This shoe demolished the aesthetic and functional concept of the “minimal shoe,” replacing it with an ultra-light, hyper-energetic shoe so disruptive it was briefly banned in 2020.

“Soft, energetic, and light:” this is how Chang recalls the brief that led to moving from “that super slim, flat running shoe” to thicker foam under the upper. “It’s not just design, right?” he notes. “It’s a collaboration with the Air team, with chemists and engineers.” He calls it “a collaborative effort.”

For Chang, designing a shoe is first and foremost a matter of “problem solving.” And the problem his team tackled, which changed the course of running shoe history, was finding a new material that was both soft and energetic. It seemed paradoxical at the time: “responsive meant firm, soft meant sluggish.” And, it had to be light. Very light. The solution was a revolutionary new foam encapsulating running-optimized Air modules. Zoom Air technology, which had defined Nike’s history, became the heart of its most futuristic revolution. “I love the design possibilities that Air gives you,” says Chang. Once the material solution was found, it was about defining “the right thickness, height, and midsole geometry.”

Creating the best shoe, both functionally and aesthetically, Chang explains, involves extensive discussions with athletes. The Alphafly wouldn’t be what it is without the input of Kenyan marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge. “An amazing mind,” Chang describes him, “someone who thinks about the future” and helped shape this latest version.

But the paradox of the Alphafly 3, and its glory, is that it will propel the best athletes to world records but remains the same shoe that allows runners everywhere to achieve their personal bests – and surpass them. It aligns perfectly with Nike’s philosophy. Before the launch, the new running queen was tested extensively by a variety of runners, from champions to amateurs. The result, according to the designer, is “uncompromising.” This is an inclusive shoe. And it’s incredibly innovative. “Of course, by being innovation, we want to push the limits as much as we can,” Chang explains, adding that his team is already working on the successor to Alphafly 3. “Afterall, [we at Nike] have such incredible innovation that anyone should be able to enjoy it, right?”

All images courtesy Nike