Published: May 1, 2017
What makes a great running shoe? Mizuno is perpetually on a mission to find the answer – and to help runners everywhere become better versions of themselves.
The most recent addition to Mizuno’s lineup of performance footwear is the brand-new Wave Sky, a max cushioning neutral shoe that delivers a plush, lively feel and an intensely smooth ride. It features cutting-edge breakthroughs in Mizuno’s running shoe technologies, as well as a slick design and an enhanced underfoot experience.
We sat down with Mizuno’s VP of Running Footwear and Design, Todd Lewis, to get the dish on what runners can expect from the brand’s latest innovative shoe. Check out what Todd had to say about the Wave Sky, and then take it for a spin yourself. Buy the men’s or women’s Wave Sky now.
The all-new Wave Sky is part of Mizuno’s effort to enhance the running experience for all runners. What does that mean?
TL: Mizuno running shoes have always been known for their high performance and sometimes firm ride. There are a lot of runners who love that feel, but there are also many runners who want soft, plush, bouncy cushioning. Wave® needs to deliver on those demands.
In all our shoes, Wave serves several unique purposes. It disperses shock, guides the foot forward and offers maximum energy return with each step. That’s the performance side of it. Now, we’re focusing on developing the experience side of it. We’ve already done that with the Wave Rider 20 and the Wave Horizon, and we’ve seen great results because of it.
The Wave Sky, like the Wave Rider 20 and Wave Horizon, contains Mizuno’s wave technology – a new Wave plate geometry that provides a much softer ride, among other benefits. How does wave technology optimize the fit, feel and performance of the Wave Sky?
TL: During our testing sessions, we discovered that runners preferred this softer wave plate to any of the other Wave configurations we’ve used in the past. And so, once we had that feedback, we wanted to incorporate the technology into our other products moving forward. We’ve started thinking differently, and we’re making more comfortable shoes that can still perform at a high level. The Wave Sky is a natural extension of that evolution. It’s a plush, lively shoe that delivers outstanding performance in the same way runners have come to expect from our brand.
What’s different about the Wave Sky from other max cushioning neutral shoes Mizuno has made in the past?
TL: With the Wave Sky, we got rid of the full-length Wave plate we’ve used in previous Mizuno high-cushioning shoes, enabling us to make the whole shoe lighter and add more of our U4icX foam underneath the foot for a more cushioned feel. Individual U4icX pods in the forefoot and heel give the runner extra flexibility and more independent cushioning. Two curves in the new max cushioning wave plate provide more efficient pressure dispersion. This, compounded with the independent cushioning, acts like shocks in a car – reducing the effects of impact and offering the runner more protection, which allows for the most plush and lively underfoot experience we’ve ever offered in a Mizuno shoe. At the same time, it still offers the core benefits of Wave technology – shock dispersion, guidance and energy return. It’s the best of both worlds.
The Wave Sky also features some brand-new visual elements that showcase Mizuno’s evolving design philosophy. What’s the reason for that?
TL: While we’ve focused on improving the experiences that runners have when they wear our shoes, we’ve also worked to create more compelling designs to enhance those experiences. People don’t buy shoes that they don’t want to wear around. Design plays a huge role in purchasing decisions, and we recognize that. We aim to create an emotional connection through our product design so that people want to wear our products. With the Wave Sky, specifically, we made the Runbird logo smaller to highlight the rest of the shoe’s visual elements and allow more space for creativity in the design. We’re proud of the way the shoe looks, and we hope that runners will be, too.