GLOBAL BRANDS Nike and 3M recently collaborated to give iconic sneakers a different twist.

The shoe collaboration, which is now available in Southeast Asia, features best-in-class 3M innovation applied to iconic sneaker franchises like the Force, Air Max, React Vision, and Blazer to add durability and design.

It is a partnership dating back to last year’s Milan Design Week where 3M presented an art installation, entitled A Pinnacle of Reflection, which had Nike going away impressed.

“Once Nike experienced our installation, they knew 3M was a company that thinks differently,” said Robert Quintero, a UX creative director at 3M, in a statement. “They appreciated our ability to express the 3M brand emotionally through storytelling.”

It just so happened as well that Nike Sportswear was in the early stages of coming up with a shoe line with “protection” as its theme.

After the Milan Design Week, 3M officials invited members of the Nike design team to visit 3M’s global headquarters. There they introduced 3M’s brand by highlighting hand-selected technologies that are used to help protect end users. This included materials that expressed warmth, durability, visibility, breathability, and more.

The Nike team then took samples back to their headquarters in Oregon and eventually decided to feature 3M Scotchlite Reflective Material throughout the entire sneaker collection to elevate the shoes’ aesthetics. Nike also used 3M Thinsulate Insulation to add an extra layer of warmth in a portion of the sneakers.

Both 3M technologies have a long history of being utilized by top apparel brands around the world.

“We are thrilled to partner with such a respected global brand and change-maker like Nike,” said Brian Rice, 3M’s vice-president of brand and design. “The result of this collaboration highlights the value of design in bringing our world-leading 3M technologies to life in a way that improves the customer experience.”

Nike and 3M said they are hoping that the shoe collection makes a great impression in the Southeast Asian region, where sneaker culture has been on a steady rise.

To view the complete collection of sneakers, visit Nike.com. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

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