Patrick Johnson 
Nike is enlisting designers of all ages to help the Swoosh reinvent footwear design for athletes of all abilities with a grand prize of $50,000 for the winner of the upcoming Nike Ease Challenge. The goal is to continue to push forward with the Nike Flyease campaign in order to encourage athletes of all abilities to live more active and independent lives.
You may remember the story of the Nike LeBron Soldier 9 FlyEase and Matthew Walzer, a High School junior who suffered with Cerebral Palsy and wrote to Nike with the suggestion that they create a model that would allow him to strap up his own footwear selections without the help of anyone else. You can read more on that story here – but it kicked off a campaign of FlyEase models with alternative lockdown support instead of the usual laces to help those with limited hand abilities easily slip into a pair of numerous performance Nike models.
The Nike Ease Challenge wants innovators to create the next forward-thinking Nike model with that in mind. “Nike is driven by a competitive spirit that drives us to do the seemingly impossible for our athletes,” Mark Parker, Chairman, President and CEO of NIKE said. “Today, we are working with others who share our passion for removing barriers through breakthrough innovation. I can’t wait to see what powerful ideas come out of this challenge.”
The Nike Ease Challenge officially opens today and submissions will be accepted until December 15th, 2016. 3 finalists will be chosen at the end of March 2017 and that lucky trio will be invited to Nike World Headquarters to present their designs to a panel of Nike leaders and athletes. Good luck to those of you participating and feel free to share your designs with us via the @SneakerNews twitter account. More details can be found via NikeEaseChallenge.com.
