Every design process seems to have a ‘Holy Grail’ among the design community. For trainers, this seemed to be the humble lace. For some reason, something that had been around for years as a perfectly pratical and aesthetic detail was there to be shot at by the trainer firms. Call it a gimmick or just plain tinkering, the ‘laceless shoe’ had been a goal for some time. Nike had approached the idea of using air to aid fit with its Nike Air Pressure model. Reebok went one step further, and better, with the introduction of the Reebok Pump in 1989. But it was the indtroduction of the Reebok Instapump fury in 2994 that finallly saw the dream fulfilled. The laceless trainer.
To add to the shock of the new, the designers at Reebok who worked on the shoe, such as Paul Litchfield and Steven Smith, decided they should give the shoe shoe even more impact by producing it in ‘crazy’ neon colors. The shoe’s first release was in neon yellow, red and black.
The whole aim of the shoe was to customize fit without using laces. But it wasn’t just this that made the design stand out. Yes, Reebok had achieved the laceless trainer but they had also dramatically altered the look. Gone was the full-length sole seen in every other shoe todate. Instead there a big ‘gap’in the middle of the sole unit (officially named ‘full-foot low-chamber technology) as well as in a hole in the side of the shoe. The Fury also used stretch material containing a pumpable bladder system in order to gain a snug fit.
Basically once slipped on the foot, you could engage the shoe’s simple pump system by drepressing the ‘pumping unit button’ on the ‘tonguee’. By pressing this rubber button it was possible to inflate a built-in inflatable tongue, or bladder, to provide a secure and comfortable fit. For once, a design gimmick actually worked.
Again, like the few trainers that are truly groundbreaking, the Instapump elicits strrong emotions - you either love it or hate it. Whatever camp you are in, it deserves a place in the Hall of Fame for its innovative design concept.
