This is the Nike GO FlyEase. You’re supposed to be able to wear them without having to bend down and use your hands to slip them on; you just jump in and it snaps into place, then off you go. To take them off, you just flip in the heel.
Here’s what nike news has to say about it: “It's intuitive — easy on, easy off — and evidence of how design, innovation and engineering can meet to answer an ambitious North Star: the creation of a hands-free shoe. Behind the shoe's smooth motion is a bi-stable hinge that enables the shoe to be secure in fully open and fully closed states. “This duality allows another signature detail: the Nike GO FlyEase tensioner. The tensioner’s unique flexibility super-charges an action many might take for granted (kicking-off a shoe) and completely reimagines this movement as basis for accessible and empowering design.”
While it may come off as a novelty on the outset, there is actually a real benefit to it, like if you were an athlete engaging in “adaptive sports”, competitive or recreational sports for people with disabilities. Nike has wheelchair fencer Bebe Vio as a spokesmodel.
Nike says the GO FlyEase will be “available initially via invite for select Nike Members, with broader consumer availability planned for later this year.” Build the gotta-to-have-it fever, we know what’s happening here…