John Kim 
The Nike Roshe Run, merely a casual lifestyle shoe that rested on simplicity in an era of over-engineering, is the brand’s most successful sneaker of the 21st century. It lacked any true breakthrough innovation as it was built on basic foam soles and mesh uppers. It’s a bit ironic that this $70 shoe reached the level of sales it did, considering Nike is a brand built on technology and puffs its chest anytime it discovers the next great development in footwear.
The Roshe phenomenon was a great lesson learned for the brand because it revealed that the public was not quite as enamored with innovation and technology, and that shoes were better kept simple, cleanly designed, and as cheap as possible. It didn’t need a celeb/athlete co-sign, and word-of-mouth did a better job than any marketing the brand ever did. For the Nike Roshe Two, the brand focuses on three winning ingredients: upper comfort, underfoot comfort, and long-lasting comfort. That’s a trifecta that’s served as the perfect recipe for the first Roshe, and thankfully the Roshe Two hasn’t fallen far from that fruitful tree.
The Roshe Two and Roshe Two Flyknit releases on September 1st at global retailers and on the NIke SNKRS App. An earlier release of the Roshe Two Flyknit through the Nike Tech Book will go down on August 25th (North America excluded).
