Interview with James C. Meschter and Sean McDowell

James C. Meschter and Sean McDowell designed the Nike Zoom Victory Spike, which received the “red dot: best of the best” for its outstanding design. James C. Meschter began his career as a member of the Apple Industrial Design Group and worked as Creative Director in the Nike Inc. Sport Equipment Division from 1997 to 2000, before joining Nike Inc. Innovation Kitchen. Sean McDowell has been working for Nike Inc. since 1997. Since 2006, he has been Creative Director for Olympic Footwear.

The Zoom Victory is the lightest spiked shoe ever created, weighing in at only 93g. How was it possible to reduce the weight to such an extent?
Sean McDowell: The biggest breakthrough was the use of a revolutionary Flywire technology. This technology allows us to place very strong fibres precisely where the foot needs them. The result is a very light and minimal support system that does away with the bulky materials of the past.
James C. Meschter: Flywire is simply the carrier for computerstitched lines made of ultra strong Vectran fibre. We place the lines only where you need support and only in the direction of the force, saving the wasted bulk of a textile overlay. The concept is very similar to a suspension bridge in its design efficiency.

What are the special challenges that you have to overcome in your daily work with new materials?
Sean McDowell: The materials that we used in the final version of the shoe did not exist when we started the project. The technology did not exist. Even the machinery did not exist. It took us three years, over 70 prototypes, and multiple material vendors to come up with the final solution.
James C. Meschter: Since we were basically making a shoe out of very specifically aligned string, we needed to first find a way to align it. Secondly, we needed to find a fibre that would stand up to the rigours and stresses of an athlete in motion. The first problem was solved by “tricking” a standard embroidery machine into dragging long strands of fibre in any direction we pleased, and then tacking them down at each end with a stitch. We then developed an ultra strong thread the embroidery machine could sew made of Vectran, a fibre in the same strength family as carbon fibre.

What design philosophy did you follow in the creation of the Zoom Victory Spike shoe?
Sean McDowell: When an athlete is going for a gold medal, every ounce, every millimetre, and every hundredth of a second can be the difference between winning and losing. That’s why we obsess over every detail to give the athlete the largest competitive advantage. The process of building prototypes and testing them on the world’s best athletes changed the design each step of the way. The functional needs of the body drove the aesthetics.
James C. Meschter: The discovery of new functional solutions often brings with it new and more meaningful aesthetic opportunities.

How do you interpret the role of design in the global market?
Sean McDowell: Great product design sells itself. The best companies use design as a competitive advantage. The companies who are suffering have not yet learned that design can transform an ailing product line into a line with high consumer appeal.
James C. Meschter: Nike has proven over the years, that when design is used to solve a problem for an athlete, it is a very effective tool.