“You have to use your hands? That’s like a baby’s toy!”
Back to the Future Part II‘s vision of the future was as inspiring as it was outlandish. While we still don’t live in a world of flying cars, instant skin transplants and ridiculously accurate weather reports, there’s plenty of creative folk out there trying to make the film’s depiction of 2015 a reality — one such group being Nike.
Although they didn’t get much screen time, the futuristic Nike MAG trainers worn by Marty McFly in Back to the Future Part II captured the imagination of viewers due to their bright, LED lights and their ability to self-lace.
Decades later, and Nike made fans’ dreams come true with their unveiling of perfect Nike MAG replicas in 2011. The iconic footwear certainly looked like their movie counterparts and even lit up in the right places, but it missed one, technologically advanced feature — power laces.
The run was limited to 1,500 pairs, which were auctioned via eBay to raise money for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease Research which, while extremely admirable, meant that for many movie fans and sneakerheads, the idea of owning a pair of self-lacing trainers would remain a dream.
But never fear! During a visit to the Nike owned, Jordan Brand Flight lab business space in New Orleans, revered Nike footwear designer Tinker Hatfield was asked if self-lacing laces were still on the cards, to which he answered:
“Are we gonna see power laces in 2015? To that, I say YES!”
Unfortunately, Hatfield didn’t specify whether the power laces were to feature in a future run of Nike MAG trainers or a new design altogether. But if I had to bet, I’d say Nike are planning various versions of Nike MAG as well as many other trainer designs with alternate uses of whatever self-lacing technology Nike is cooking up behind closed doors.
The future is almost here my friends, and the era of having to bend over and tie our own shoe laces is nearly over. And as stupid as that sounds, I’m still ridiculously excited.
[via Sole Collector]
