Last month Nike officially announced an innovation that was somewhat of a game-changer for sneaker fans across the globe. Bringing more to those who want to up their sneaker game between seasons, the brand new Nike SneakerBoot collection has taken everyone’s favourite Nike sneaker silhouettes and… well, ‘bootified’ them for cool-weather performance. With added height, traction, and weatherproofing, the iconic sneaker icons of the Air Force One, Air Max 90, Free Run 2, Lunar LDV, Roshe Run, Roshe Run Hi and Nike Sky High Dunk were all evolved for rugged resistance to the elements… oh and they look pretty damn good too.

Available locally in two silhouettes ­– we are headed into summer after all ­– the Nike Air Max 90 SneakerBoot and the Nike Free Run 2 SneakerBoot, this new age of the sneaker has been heralded in partly because of the design direction of Nathan Vanhook, a Senior Footwear Designer at Nike Sportswear HQ. As a kid growing up outside of Washington D.C., Nathan excelled at art and baseball, so it kinda makes sense his grown-up job now sees him fusing design and performance on an everyday basis. With a degree in Industrial Design and stints as an art/design teacher, furniture designer and wetsuit designer, Nathan eventually made his way to Nike 2008. His first design landmark at the company was the Nike Aina Chukka and since then, he has spearheaded seminal footwear styles like the Nike Air Yeezy II and Nike Lunar Orbit.

Now Nathan can add another landmark to his resume with the series. The Air Max 90 has been updated with an internal neoprene collar that holds and protects the ankle for warmth and support without restriction, while fewer stitched panels offer a clean, modern look, while a winterized outsole provides traction on a variety of surfaces. Meanwhile the Nike Free Run 2 SneakerBoot combines the barefoot-like benefits of Nike Free technology with a winter boot height and a full inner sleeve construction covers the ankle for sock-like comfort.

We sat down with Nathan earlier this year to get a little info on the latest SneakerBoot releases, that have got us kinda wishing we weren’t headed into warm weather! Kinda…

Where did the initial idea for the SneakerBoot come from? Did you speak to consumers and they said they wanted sneakers that they could wear in winter?

The idea for SneakerBoots as a whole was “Let’s just give people the shoes that they love but the innovation you need so you could wear the same sneaker that you love.” Like the Free Run 2 which you have on now… but now you can wear it in the Fall and Winter, and that was kind of the inspiration.

Were there any designs that you couldn’t transition to the boot?

I think the team just kind of picked the models that people really love and innovated them for the season. That’s the reason the collar was added for warmth, and we added some water repellency in the toe.

In terms of the height for each of the sneaker boots, how did you establish that?

We like to focus a lot on the chukka heights for wearability and just to give you that kind of ankle coverage. The higher cut the product, the higher the level of protection.

I assume it’s the same in the States as it is in Australia, where we’ve seen a real interest in sportswear and technical footwear from the fashion sector and you’re finding what was originally designed as performance footwear is now worn as a fashion shoe.

I guess everybody wants that comfortable product and these products are rooted in innovation for people to perform, so it’s going to be good for you walking through the city, and just the idea of Free Run, it’s built for running in/and biomechanics but it also feels good when you walk around the city. I think people just like the idea of comfort and having lightweight product on.

I think it’s also because there’s a purity in the design, because it’s designed for function and that’s where the aesthetic thing comes from.

Yeah it is what it is, and I think that’s the great thing about our products is that the function really drives the aesthetic. I think when we have a good product it’s when we’ve stripped everything down to what can solve the problem.

I think it is interesting you were an industrial designer before being a footwear designer. How hard was it to transition into?

Well I also worked designing wetsuits and they are super functional, nobody wants to wear a wetsuit if they had the choice but you know… it’s the need, and it’s also the idea of body in motion.  It’s a very hands on product, I don’t just draw it up and the product comes back – I’m sitting down there stitching stuff, laying out patterns and also like designing the bottoms and getting the bottoms molded and it’s very hands on and my thought is if you’re a good designer you can design a chair, to a floor, to a table, to an airplane… look at Marc Newson. For us it’s the idea of just trying to solve a problem, and working around the body in motion.

It must be great having so much technology at your fingertips also.

Yeah and the great thing about this design collective that we talk about, these 600 designers, you know we have amazing people doing stuff in running, in basketball, in football, in the innovation kitchen and everybody is trying to push each other to do better and make better work. I see something in running and I’m like “Damn, why didn’t I think of that!” So it’s pretty amazing…

Do people get protective of their innovations though?

Nah, I think Nike is really good at sharing that knowledge. You know when Lunarlon was launched you saw that immediately being brought into sportswear. We try to leverage those technologies across the board, if it’s going to work for one it could work for the other.