Why Nike consulted women first when it started designing new sneakers

The world champion of the 100-meter dash — Sha’Carri Richardson — wears very long and colorful false nails in competitions. They are, surely, the most striking touch in the young Texan’s powerful look. Printed in 3D and then lacquered, the ones she wore last April in Paris — at a major event, in which Nike presented its innovations with a view to the Olympic Games this summer — had come from the same place as the sophisticated high-top sneakers that she wears while competing. That is, from the LeBron James Innovation Center, a spectacular building at Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. There, about 700 people work with all kinds of cutting-edge technology in the fields of materials, biomechanics, or artificial intelligence to create new products. “It’s not something superficial. We’re committed to the needs of our athletes, from head to toe and from performance to style,” explains Heidi O’Neill, one of the top managers of the American sports clothing and footwear giant.

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