New: Nike’s got their innovation back and we’re here for it.

It’s been a week since Nike unveiled their new innovation stories leading up to 2026 and i’ve had some substantial time to go through every one and watch enough reviews of what this new chapter of Nike innovation has in store for us.

Granted Nike’s dip over the last couple of years was caused by several missteps, but one thing that I’ve shared with a lot of friends and industry colleagues is that innovation was lost on the Swoosh for the greater part of the last decade. Sure, there were some running hits here and there, but what we lacked from the brand was that one-upmanship that we’ve grown to see from Nike through the last 5 decades.

With new leadership at the helm, Nike went back to their core mission – bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.

Simple, yes. But that’s what has led most of us loving the Swoosh. Bringing innovation, design and product across their brands was always at the core of what Nike stood for and we in return, loved it. Sure, most, if not all sports brands do this (and we have brands like Nike to thank for the blueprint), but creating products that make athletes better should always be at the center of it all.

“Our north star is a homage to our co-founder, Bill Bowerman, and a challenge Kobe Bryant put to all of us: ‘Create epic s— and make athletes better,’” says Phil McCartney, Chief Innovation, Design and Product Officer, NIKE, Inc. “Everything begins and ends with the athlete’s voice — their goals, their struggles, their drive. By uniting our creation organization across Nike, Jordan and Converse, we’re accelerating progress and fully leveraging our strengths to deliver epic products that make athletes better. It’s a new day in Innovation, Design and Product at Nike.”

Nike unveiled four new innovation platforms to reflect their commitment, which includes:

• Aero-FIT – Nike’s latest attempt at cooling technology, channeling more than double the airflow of legacy Nike athletic apparel to help enable peak performance in extreme condition.
• Nike Mind – Nike brings to life neuroscience-based footwear that’s 10 years in the making
• Project Amplify – the world’s first powered footwear system for running and walking; designed to help everyday athletes go a little bit faster and farther with less effort.
• Therma-FIT Air Milano – bringing Nike Air technology into performance outerwear. This allows athletes to regulate their temperatures without changing layers.

Aero-FIT

As mentioned above, Aero-FIT’s capable of channeling more than double the airflow across its apparel to help athletes compete in the harshest of elements. While it’ll be hard to eliminate heat and humidity, this can be aided through technology.

Aero-FIT will make its debut next summer (2026) in the football kits across Nike federations during the World Cup. Designed to move more air between skin and fabric, Aero-FIT supports sweating efficiency while helping athletes stay dry when the game heats up.

Elliptical mesh zones offer a unique visual signature, with a lighter mesh providing greater airflow in high-heat areas. Not only does it work well in these fields, Aero-FIT is also Nike’s first elite performance apparel made from 100% textile waste; a feat made possible through advanced chemical recycling.

Nike Mind

Help athletes lock in. Nike introduces their first neuroscience-based footwear through the Nike Mind 001 mule and Mind 002 sneaker. The nodes are made to activate key sensory areas of the brain via underfoot stimulation. 10 years in the making, the Mind 001 and 002 feature 22 independent foam nodes per shoe that allows them to act as pistons and gimbals as athletes move — imparting the feeling, texture of the ground directly beneath them. This heightens sensory awareness, helping clear away distractions and enhance concentration.

“Nike Mind is a new sensory-footwear concept that helps reawaken the foot, the body and the mind,” says Eric Avar, VP, Creative Director, Innovation. “It represents a new paradigm of performance and how we can potentially make athletes better in the future.”

The Nike Mind 001 and Mind 002 will be available in January 2026, with the Mind 001 retailing for Php 5,195 and the Mind 002 sneaker going for Php 8,095. These will be made available through Nike.com/ph and select stores.

Project Amplify

Project Amplify is all about helping everyday athletes go a little bit faster and farther with less effort. Upon first glance, this looks like something coming out of those mid 2010s GI Joe movies and their exo-suits. Have we really made advances to improve the human body with footwear?

Made to augment natural lower leg and ankle movement, Project Amplify aims to break the perception of possibility by providing unparalleled boost to anyone who wants to move. Built on motion algorithms in the NSRL, the footwear system is comprised of a lightweight but powerful motor, drive belt and a rechargeable cuff battery that seamlessly integrates with a carbon fiber-plated running shoe that can be worn with or without the robotic system.

Similar to how electric bikes have made it easier to ride farther, Project Amplify aims to make slower running, jogging, and walking easier and more fun. It’s really not meant for elite or faster runners but for everyday runners who want more power with less effort.

While Project Amplify continues to be in the testing stage, it’s good to see Nike coming up with tools that can help every person. We’re hoping to see a consumer launch in the coming years.

Therma-FIT Air Milano

What if Nike used their Air other than their footwear?

Nike brings their Air innovation into apparel with the Therma-FIT Air Milano jacket, powered by A.I.R. (Adapt. Inflate. Regulate.). Expect to see Team USA athletes wear these jackets as they compete in Milan during the 2026 Winter games.

Instead of using different textiles, materials or fillings to regulate temperatures, the Air Milano uses aire to provide dynamic warmth across several conditions. Inflating or Deflating the jacket changes the warmth that ranges from say, a hoodie, to a mid-weight puffer.

“Air Milano signals a new and exciting era in Nike’s legacy of Air, bringing forward a distinctive innovation that offers responsive and intelligent insulation to all athletes,” says Danielle Kayembe, Expert, Apparel Product Innovation Management. “Air Milano shows Nike at its best — blending athlete science and data-driven design to create responsive, engineered garments that drive athletic performance.”

While most outerwear designs are limited by the horizontal construction required to contain down or synthetic fill, the designers found that a jacket built around Air technology freed them from those constraints, offering new possibilities in aesthetics and fit.

Air Milano will deliver dynamic warmth to Team USA athletes this winter as their medal ceremony look in Milan. Each Team USA jacket features exclusive sculpted design elements, a custom-made ACG pump, metallic twill branding, and an interior lining graphic that depicts the Garden of the Gods, the team’s home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Accessibility features include interior bottom hem thumb loops and a magnetic zipper designed to help Paralympic athletes close and zip the jacket.

“Our curious, talented teammates who come together to serve athletes every day, combined with our advantaged resources like the Nike Sport Research Lab, will enable us to deliver future decades of disruptive products and performance breakthroughs,” says McCartney. “What comes out of our creation teams isn’t just innovative — it’s the kind of work that stops people in their tracks. It wows. It resonates. It makes people feel something. And that’s the magic.”

“We are a team of dreamers, designers and creators with a responsibility to make athlete dreams real,” says McCartney. “We focus on the athlete’s unique relationship with their sport, creating solutions they never knew they needed and can’t live without. We imagine and innovate — always starting with athletes, staying grounded in sport, and pushing what’s possible in innovation, design and product.”

Sure, we can all say its unnecessary and to a certain extent gimmicky. But I honestly believe innovation drives us to become better; and it helps that Nike gives us tools to achieve all that. I can’t wait for Nike to roll these products out, especially the Nike Mind and Aero-FIT products. After all, if you have a body, you are an athlete.