The Nike Go FlyEase shoe is the company’s first hands-free sneakers.
Nike
Nike Video Screenshot by Leslie Katz / CNET
Nike is making a new hinge model designed to allow wearers to step on it without using their hands.
The Nike Go FlyEase shoe, unveiled on Monday, is part of the company’s FlyEase range. With the line, wearers can use one or no hands to put on a pair of shoes, whether the person has special needs, is just in a hurry or has their hands full.
A video posted by the company shows how a hinge is built into the lace-up shoe, allowing it to bend in an open position so that the wearer can step in. The wearer then lowers his heel to securely lock the shoe. To remove the shoe, press the wearer with the opposite foot on the heel.
“I usually spend so much time climbing into my shoes,” Italian Paralympic gold medalist Bebe Vio said in a statement. “With the Nike Go FlyEase, I just have to put my feet in and jump on it. The shoes are a new kind of technology, not only for adaptable athletes, but also for everyone’s real life.”
A Fast Company reviewer notes that wearers will not feel the hinge hidden under the shoe’s footbed, and that a strap will hold the hinge in place while the shoe is being worn.
Photos shared by Nike show three color choices – a mostly black shoe with a dark blue accent; a shoe made of stripes of black, purple, orange, gray and blue; and a shoe in light green, blue, pink and white.
The shoes will sell for $ 120 (about £ 88, AU $ 157). From February 15, ‘select Nike members’ in North America, Japan, Europe, the Middle East and Africa are invited to buy it, Business Insider reports, and eventually the shoe will be available more widely.