Nike announced a collaborative project with Tama Art university design department and has recently introduced the result thereof. Japanese designers based their ideas upon the recent innovative concepts from Nike, but eventually came up with their own creations—even more innovative and ground-breaking.

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Following the trend of close-fitting footwear that outlines the foot and repeat its silhouette, designers at Tama Art University introduced a ‘foot-hugging’ sneaker made of soft and flexible material that stretches similarly to socks. Yes, this kind of footwear looks more like socks rather than a pair of sneakers.

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Kosuke Araki, creator of the model, said that the concept was inspired by city kids playing barefooted on the streets. So, at one point, such flexible shoe provides 100% sensibility for the human foot, but on the other hand it isn’t suitable for football and other sports where a player may get hurt by performing rush moves.

Another concept is represented by a pair of shoes that you are more likely to wear in your pocket than on your feet. Kasai Takeshi unveiled a pleated and self-foldable footwear that, when folded, easily fits into the pocket. But when unfolded, the model looks a little bit funny.

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These sneakers are made of polypropylene material, which provides them with the due flexibility, durablility, and resistance to repeated bending.

Image: www.designboom.com