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Back To The Future Fans, Rejoice – Nike Is Making Power Laces
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports – Your Universe Online
Nike has announced plans to make the self-tying shoes featured in Back to the Future Part II a reality, as designer Tinker Hatfield has confirmed that the company will release a new pair of sneakers featuring the so-called “power laces” made famous by Michael J. Fox’s character Marty McFly in the 1989 film.
The announcement comes three years after the shoe company initially released a product based on the shoes worn by McFly, the Nike Air MAG, according to Robert Sorokanich of Gizmodo. A total of 1,500 pairs were produced and auctioned off, reportedly raising nearly $6 million for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
However, those shoes lacked the special laces which allowed McFly to simply push a button and have his sneakers tie themselves. Now, though, Hatfield confirmed during an appearance in New Orleans late last week that the high-tech shoelaces would actually be produced next year, said SoleCollector.com’s Brandon Richard.
“Are we gonna see power laces in 2015? To that, I say YES!” Hatfield said, according to Richard. However, the Nike designer did not specify whether or not the laces would be released as part of a new line of Air MAGs or an all-new line of sneakers that would feature self-lacing technology.
Interestingly enough, New York Daily News reporter Joel Landau points out that, in the film, Fox’s character said that the shoes with the push-button tying technology were released in the year 2015. Based on Hatfield’s announcement, and barring any unforeseen setbacks, it appears as though he was right about that.
The original 2011 Nike Air MAGS featured an upper part constructed of reinforced mesh and an outer sole “lined with LED panels that’ll light up just like all futuristic shoes imagined in the 80′s should,” Sorokanich’s Gizmodo colleague Casey Chan explained in September 2011. It was also rechargeable and would remain lit for up to five hours.
“It’s pretty much the exact replica of the pair of shoes Marty McFly famously wore with a few slight tweaks to add more support and comfort,” Chan added. “They’re just a pair of shoes, yes, but they might as well be Doc Brown and a DeLorean with a Flux Capacitor—I feel like a kid all over again. I can’t wait to put them on.”
Source: http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1113072709/nike-back-to-the-future-power-laces-021714/
