Shelby Elmore

About 10 years ago, researchers in the NRL (Nike Research Lab) discovered when people run, their feet actually rotate and roll slightly instead of staying on one continued axis. In order to compensate, they began making a shoe with a hexagonal pattern of grooves in the outsole to allow the shoe to flex in multiple directions. They named it the Nike Free, as the construction allows for feet to move more efficiently in their natural stride.

Have you ever seen someone wearing those crazy toe-separating shoes? This is a much more fashionable way of executing a similar idea!

Fast forward to 2012. When Nike released an all-new fabric technology call Flyknit, they had built an upper construction from woven polyester yarn designed to provide comfort, compression, breathability, and look bad ass! The idea came from runners not wanting to feel their foot adjust position once the shoe was on.

Basically, they were looking for a sock with a sole.

Flyknit technology has been seen on a plethora of Nike outsoles such as Air Max, Lunarlon, and Racer. And the Free sole has been put beneath a huge range of uppers and coupled with many other technologies as well. But there has never been a marriage like Flyknit and Free.

Take it one step further, and you have the Nike Free Flyknit 4.0. The Free Flyknit 4.0 provides more cushion than the 3 with more flex than the 5.

Goldilocks would have satisfied right here, ‘cus this shoe is juuuuust right.

After checking out the Nike Free Flyknit 4.0 – Color and Personality Match, I deemed the Bright Crimson Raspberry Red my favorite, (but I copped the teal too). I always tell people if they are only going to maintain 3 sneakers in their closet at a time, they’re going to need a black, a white/grey, and something red.

The toe box is vibrant, but it’s the perfect accent to the darker shade throughout the rest of the upper. The shoe is then finished with a white swoosh on the side. Everything from the cosmetics to the comfort is perfectly on point here.

You’ll be lookin’ fly, rather Flyknit.

The Nike Free Flyknit 4.0 is available now on FinishLine.com.