Written by Menswear Style in Health & Fitness on the 3rd April 2014

The 2014 Nike Free running collection makes a performance statement echoing those famous words from coach and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman. 

Bowerman’s belief was that design should focus on the athlete’s body and movement. His convictions inspired a design philosophy around the concept of natural motion and sparked the idea for the paradigm-shattering Nike Free introduced in 2004. 

We’ve just finished our Nike Free 5.0 FLyknit iD session at Nike Town in London. Like being ridiculously hungry at a restaurant with a 10 page menu, we were over excited, giddy like a child on Christmas day, but took far too long choosing our option. 

On the left foot we have MWS for ‘Menswear Style’ and EST12 on the right foot for ‘Established in 2012’. It seemed fitting since yesterday was actually the 2nd birthday of this publication. 

So, we have 3-4 weeks to wait (cruel, cruel world), but here’s what we can expect to receive in the words of Rob Dolan, Senior Footwear Design Director at Nike Running himself.

“After 10 years of continual innovation, we've truly revolutionized the way these shoes work. By utilizing new technologies and the principles of natural motion, we’re really able to allow the foot to move for the runner in a way we’ve never been able to do before.” 

A key breakthrough came from Nike’s sport research lab data, athlete insights and studying the foot in motion whilst running and jogging. The design team knew multi-directional flexibility was key to delivering true natural motion. To achieve this, the 2014 collection features three of the most significant developments in Nike Free since its 2004 launch.

Hexagonal Flex Grooves 

Data gathered at Nike’s sport research lab and insights from athletes helped inform Nike’s first-ever outsole with a hexagonal flex-groove pattern, delivering multi-directional flexibility and helping enable the runner’s foot to move more freely in all directions. 

We think this is actually really cool, and more importantly, it actually works - we got to feel this and see it in action ourselves. Just grab one of the shoes with both hands and start twisting in different directions to see just how flexible they actually are. We cannot wait to put this to the test whilst running!

Anatomical Shape 

A more anatomically-shaped heel is designed to roll as the athlete’s foot hits the ground. This body-led approach to designing footwear focuses on mimicking the shape of the foot and aims to allow the foot and body to move more naturally. 

Nike Flyknit Technology 

An ultra-light Flyknit upper provides a supportive, contoured fit in the Nike Free 3.0 Flyknit and Free 4.0 Flyknit. Securing the foot over the low profile sole, the upper complements the flexibility of the Nike Free platform, allowing the foot to move more freely in all directions. Nike Flyknit technology

Introducing the Nike Free 2014 Collection which features hexagonal flex grroves, an anatomical shape and new flyknit technologies.