- Nike releases the Mind 001 and Mind 002, a fresh look ay performance by prioritising mental, sensory, and physical readiness.
- Nike’s innovation is shaped by feedback from world-class athletes to benefit everyday movers.
- By introducing neuroscience into footwear design, Nike is heading into a new era performance innovation – one that meets athletes where they are, rather than asking them to do more.
There aren’t many brands available today that consistently seek to innovate year-on-year, to listen to ambassadors, and not be afraid to make changes to established collections. And in the case of Nike’s latest footwear phenomenon, it completely flips the script on what we should be expecting from our products, with the latest Mind collection.
Against the backdrop of the Australian Open, one of the most mentally demanding tournaments in global sport, Nike declared Melbourne as the stage to show a group of journalists (myself included) its latest addition to the modern pursuit of performance; one that isn’t just accentuated by how fast you serve, or how how quick you can dash across the baseline…although that certainly helps.
For Nike’s Mind series, readiness – mental, physical, sensory – is where true performance lies, before the first serve is even tossed.
“Both elite athletes and everyday athletes continue to see sport as an increasingly important part of their lives,” Chloe Speed, Vice President & General Manager, Nike Training, tells me.
“They’re really looking for what are all the ways they can find an edge, find a way to make sport better, make their training better, and ultimately their performance and their longevity better, and the idea of mindset and mental preparation has been incredibly underserved when you think about the huge role it actually plays.”
That philosophy sits at the centre of Nike Mind, the brand’s newest footwear platform. Where most modern footwear is engineered to mute sensation for the sake of improved comfort, Nike has taken the complete opposite approach, confidently looking at the shoe in a completely different way to heighten awareness and alert the senses.
“We move into this direction with incredible confidence, because we’ve combined science with athlete truth.”
Chloe Speed, Vice President & General Manager, Nike Training
After ten years of discreet research and development from the Nike Mind Science team, twenty-two nodes embedded beneath the foot were agreed as the sweet spot for performance, designed to move as you walk and create a constant sensory dialogue between foot and brain.
“We’ve definitely approached design through biomechanics, physiology, and more of a style lens,” Chloe continued. “With the work the team has done in NSRL and the creation of the Mind Science team, we’re essentially adding neuroscience as another access point to start that design process. It is, without a doubt, a frontier we’re looking to continue to push, to make sure we serve the complete athlete.”
The collection comes in two distinct designs. The first, Nike Mind 001, is a stripped-back mule design intended for easy on-and-off wear, allowing athletes to engage with the sensory system before and after competition.
“Physiology and biomechanics will always be incredibly important, but adding neuroscience takes us to new frontiers in a way that’s incredibly exciting.”
Chloe Speed, Vice President & General Manager, Nike Training
If you’ve been paying attention, you would have seen these beauties already, on the feet of Premier League footballers and Australian running champions, with a vibrant pinky colourway that makes a quiet entrance to the court nearly impossible.
The second, Nike Mind 002, takes the form of a more traditional sneaker, laced-up with heel support, yet still incorporating the same neuroscience-informed footbed. It works by anchoring the foot more securely to enhance underfoot sensation and support to help athletes feel even more present and relaxed during recovery or ahead of a big activity.
After breakfast at QT, one of Melbourne’s new additions to the luxury hotel scene, we were whisked away to Collingwood’s converted industrial yards and later to the chaos of Melbourne Park to experience this latest innovation for ourselves.
Within seconds of wearing the Mind 001, Nike’s slip-on, slip-off selection, you quickly become aware of how you’re moving, how you’re standing, how your body occupies space, shuffling your feet within its neon slipper to experience each individual node underfoot.
Through continued innovation with Nike athletes, the brand has been able to produce a new pair of footwear that doesn’t differentiate between performance tiers; it simply meets athletes where they are.
It’s an invaluable step that reinforces Nike’s enduring idea that “If you have a body, you are an athlete,” and further evidence of Nike’s commitment to its customers.
“Everybody has their own idea of a centre court,” Chloe revealed. “It might not have millions of people watching, but everyone has a moment where they want to show up at their best.”
“For a lot of people now, that’s their training experience or their sport experience. So being able, as a brand, to look at different ways we can optimise that and offer a different solution to help all athletes is incredibly exciting.”
That philosophy echoed across Melbourne Park in parallel, where Nike’s broader performance language was on full display through the Surf Symphony NikeCourt collection, worn under the lights of Rod Laver Arena throughout the tournament by 2026 and 2025’s respective champions, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Not a bad pair of ambassadors, if you ask me.
With fluid silhouettes and the American brand’s signature, aggressive colourways, Nike’s tennis collection lit up the court as Alcaraz marched towards his first Slam in Australia. The line-up’s market-leading technology was utilised throughout the entire collection, expertly designed to meet the inherent demands of five-set tennis in the Melbourne summer heat.
The hero piece, the NikeCourt Slam Men’s Dri-FIT ADV Tank Top, proved its credentials during Alcaraz’s unforgettable five-set semi-final against Alexander Zverev, a match already being spoken about as one of the sport’s greats.
Seeing that kit perform under those conditions, I was struck by the wider argument Nike is making right now. Where, historically, performance was always measured in numbers – first serve percentages, forehand winners and distance covered. But in Melbourne this summer, the real edge was found before the crowd settled into their seats and the first Lemon Ace was poured.
Of course, not everyone will step onto Rod Laver Arena. But everyone has their own version of it. A training session before work. A return from injury. A moment where showing up mentally matters as much as physically.
With Nike’s latest innovation, true performance is no longer defined by output alone. It’s about readiness, awareness, and meeting the athlete where they are. It might just be the most confident move a brand has made in years.
