Nike is using its hipbestonic powers for good. Yesterday, the brand launched the Go FlyEase sneaker – a shoe designed for people with physical disabilities.
If you’ve run out of the house in a hurry, you know the unofficial method of putting shoes on without your hands: just stick your foot in the shoe as much as possible and then crush your heel. Nike shoes are based on these movements with a hinge and a “tensioner” (basically a large elastic that wraps around the sole) so that the shoe opens and closes. It is not rocket science, but it is very ingenious.
Photo: Nike
The FlyEase line was inspired by Matthew Walzer, who was born with cerebral palsy and wrote for Nike in 2012. “At 16, I am able to dress fully, but my parents still need to tie my shoes,” he said in the letter. “As a teenager who is struggling to become totally self-sufficient, I find this extremely frustrating and, at times, embarrassing.” The first FlyEase models made sneakers more accessible by using zippers and laces, but the Go FlyEase is the first fully hands-free.
Bebe Vio, an Italian fencer who lost arms and legs due to meningitis as a child, is wearing prosthetic legs. “I usually spend a lot of time to get in my place,” Vio said in a statement. “With Nike Go FlyEase, I just need to get my feet in and jump on it. Shoes are a new type of technology, not just for adaptable athletes, but for everyone’s real life. “
Sure, there are other types of sliding shoes out there (Crocs, for example), but when Nike launched the shoes, Twitter users – including pregnant women, people in chronic pain and all kinds of disabilities – talked about how excited they were are to see stylish sneakers available to them.
Photo: Nike
According to Nike, the $ 120 shoes will be available in limited quantities on February 15 by invitation to selected Nike members and will be more widely available later this year.