words & images // Nick DePaula
When Nike Basketball first launched the Hyperflight (as you now know, it was 10 years ago), pretty much everyone outside of the sneaker world enjoyed calling them "spacey," "moon boots" or a less-friendly-but-more-direct phrase like "hideously offensive."
That was with the release of the all-patent versions. It's hard to imagine how ruthless people might've gotten over this fully Lenticular sample, had it released.
Just a few pairs were made in size 9 for some initial wear tests, and as you can see with this pair, well, creasing and flexing were never really strong suits of the shoe. The main flex point is enjoying some sweet discoloring thanks in part to both time and some air seeping into the back half of the shoe, which doesn't really lend itself to a particularly great look.
With an upper made entirely of a lenticular synthetic that we'd later see in splashes along the Zoom Flightposite III, unfortunately, the material simply didn't hold up to make it to production.
Enjoy a look below at an original Lenticular sample pair of the Hyperflight, and be sure to check out the nostalgic "Hyperflight Turns 10" feature with quotes and design inspiration details from Eric Avar.
