"I asked her friend, what do you do for Nike? He said he was a footwear designer and I was like whoa, whoa, whoa wait how did you do that? Did you study fashion...? There was just not the knowledge I think there is today. After I heard his job and what he did I was like wait this is the perfect job. I'm a runner. I love art and design. Why can't I put these two things together?"
This week we had the honor of speaking with Valerie Weilert, a footwear designer in the running industry. We go into her beginnings in the footwear industry and talk about thoughts on super shoes and racing flats. A lot of good information on shoe design here for those interested in how the process works. Special thanks to Val for speaking with us and sharing her story!
00:00 - Intro, Val's background in running and footwear design
7:19 - What is the normal day of a footwear designer?/Design process
13:23 - Evolution of a shoe design
14:47 - Developing shoes/spikes for athletes to consumers
30:36 - Super Shoe thoughts
44:43 - The classic racing flat, and finding the right shoe for you
56:00 - World Athletic impacts on shoe designing, and thoughts on popular track shoes today
1:01:50 - COVID impact on professional training