NIKECRAFT Wear Tester
“In development, failure is always an option. Failure is an opportunity for improvement. Testing, in a controlled environment will only get you so far, eventually, you need the real world”. Tom Sachs, NIKECraft Weartester Program, 2021.
At the end of last year Nike and Tom Sachs announced the “NIKECRAFT WEARTESTER PROGRAM”. An initiative that allows consumers to participate in tasing out the Mars Yard 2.5 sneaker. The New York based creative has pulled together a team of testers to analyse and push the shoe in the real world. After this, the shoes will the be returned, sanitised, studied, repaired and reissued.
Simultaneously, NIKECRAFT is pushing its research on suitable care of footwear, with an aim of making more sustainable products.
One wear tester who will be running the Mars Yard 2.5 through the miles is @samutaro. Sam, a keen runner who normally sticks to the pavement plans to experiment with the shoes more off the road. After a first run in them, the sole was found to be unmistakably a lot harder than his usual go to Vaporfly’s and couldn’t stick to his usual pace - this was to be expected. More recently he has braved the snow to run some winter miles and eventually plans to run a half marathon wearing the shoes.
You can follow his journey with the Mars Yard 2.5 through his instagram @samutaro.