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Thursday 31 December, 2009

Women's Footwear

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Women's Footwear: Implementing the Ideas

"It's just amazing to these women that Nike would take the time to talk to them and find out how these products are working for them."-Susanne Wolf, Nike Running Footwear Development Director
Nike has always been synonymous with innovation, striving to create the best products possible at every opportunity. Over the last several years, Nike has taken this process one-step further by creating technology specifically for women's shoes.
Three projects-crucial to women-specific technology-came out of the extensive research conducted by Susanne and the team at the Nike Sports Research Lab. Based on the anatomical difference results-women, on average, have a lower body mass then men-it was determined that cushioning systems in women's shoes needed to be softer. As a result, the pressure in the air bags was lowered, giving women more cushioning. Additionally, to account for women's lower body mass, Shox technology was engineered to be more compressible and softer in smaller sizes.
After learning that heel width varies vastly in women with comparable shoe size, Susanne and team went to work on two solutions. In order to accommodate for the width variation, an adaptable heel fit system was developed. A women's specific sock liner was also created to provide better heel cupping.
To help combat the high number of ACL-related injuries in women, a women's-specific heel crash pad was created to provide more stability and support. This specialized crash pad helps women land closer to their heel center, reducing the amount and rate of pronation, and hopefully curbing more ACL-related injuries.
Along with these three significant innovations, Susanne and team also developed technology specifically for several shoes in the Bowerman Series. For instance, many of the styles have wider flex grooves to make them more flexible in the forefoot. Additionally, to create a more dynamic forefoot fit, a tree ring design-commonly known as the "bunion rings"-were developed.
"Being a woman and knowing that these products really work for me," Susanne commented, "makes me feel proud." After extensive research as well as the input from countless "real women" product testers, Nike has delivered on women's-specific technology.