20 Years Of Nike Basketball: A Look Back At The Air Zoom Ultraflight
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Following up on the Zoom Hyperflight Aaron Cooper was given the responsibility of creating the Air Zoom Ultraflight in 2003. The line which put an emphasis on speed and lightness was entering a new age of design. Coopers creation mixed a traditional leather with a unique combination of TCU, mesh and various fabrics in one seamless style. Although the silhouette didn't have a signature star athlete attached to it several notable names sported the shoe during the '03 season. Enjoy the early design photos and read over what Nike has to say about its creation:
“Design can put a dream on paper, so to speak, but it’s development and manufacturing that turn the dreams into reality.”- Aaron Cooper
After breaking new ground with the 2001 Nike Zoom Hyperflight, the objective was to maintain an innate sense of speed while building on a need for support. Continuing the Zoom lineage of the basketball shoe as an object of beauty, the Nike Zoom Ultraflight was the byproduct of absolute performance and total reduction.
New approaches need new processes, and the Nike Zoom Ultraflight’s designer Aaron Cooper concedes that, “From a manufacturing perspective that was not easy to do.” Half tradition, half amazing, this was one shoe with two distinct styles — an expected, premium leather side and a defiantly tech side. The development team managed to skillfully merge TPU, mesh and traditional fabrics seamlessly.
The Nike Zoom Ultraflight was informed by multiple inspirations: from a clear Nike track spike that was never produced, to a transparent deck lay on a performance car, to Cooper and Eric Avar’s visit to a New York City sporting goods store. “We were amazed by this translucent snow helmet where you could see the structure of the foam underneath.”
With every element visible in the Nike Zoom Ultraflight, even the inner comfort mesh had to look as good as it performed. The end result was a responsive feel and traction that changed the game again. Through pure experimentation and a conviction to manufacture the seemingly impossible, the shoe became a reality.
Twinned with a perfect balance of the huh? factor and classicism, Nike Basketball created its own challenge — beat that.
