Ever since Nike dropped its thick-soled, energy-returning shoes Zoom Vaporfly 4% super shoes in 2016, the world of running has never been the same.
For those not au fait with the term super shoe, it refers to a highly-stacked lightweight sneaker with a full-length carbon-fiber plate embedded within the midsole that’s designed to be both comfortable and highly responsive — and also extremely fast.
Seven years on and almost every performance brand on the market has its own version of a super shoe.
Yet, to many, Nike is still the pinnacle and it's easy to see why.
The Swoosh currently dresses the feet of countless world record holders including Eliud Kipchoge, who ran the fastest marathon in history (2:01:09) last year in Berlin wearing Nike’s Alphafly 2.
Now, ahead of Kipchoge’s return to Berlin on September 24, 2023, Nike has released its all-new EK Umoja Collection (Umoja means “unity” in Kipchoge’s native Swahili), a capsule of footwear and apparel built on the ethos of the world’s greatest marathoner.
The collection — which is available online now — includes five Nike running footwear silhouettes: the Nike Alphafly 2, Nike Vaporfly 3, Nike Zoom Fly 5, Pegasus 40 and Nike Victory track spike. In apparel, the line includes the Nike Windrunner jacket, Nike Rise 365 tee, Nike Stride 7-inch short and a Nike Dri-FIT tee.
Each item within the collection features colors and graphics inspired by Kipchoge’s first World Championship victory in the 5,000 meters in Paris back in 2003.
