Swiss sportswear brand On is having an unforgettable summer. First, On athlete Helen Obiri won the Boston Marathon for the second year in a row. Then, the brand signed a multi-year partnership with Zendaya and unveiled a new campaign starring the “Euphoria” actress.
Building on that momentum, ON released an iconic air tennis match between Zendaya and ON's first ambassador, Roger Federer.
On has unveiled new products, technologies and manufacturing processes that are sure to shake up the industry. The brand has officially introduced LightSpray, a revolutionary new upper technology that will be featured for the first time in the Cloudboom Strike LS running shoe.
LightSpray's groundbreaking one-step manufacturing process sets the standard for more sustainable manufacturing across the industry. Automated by a robotic arm that can produce a shoe in just three minutes, the process reduces waste and produces an upper with 75% less carbon emissions than other On racing shoes.
The result is the precision-sprayed, laceless, seamless, 170g Cloudboom Strike LS — On's lightest running shoe to date. Below, the brand showed off the new tech in an Instagram post:
“Lightspray marks an important milestone for ON not only in creating a high-performance product, but also in its potential to move us toward a more sustainable, circular future,” said Marc Maurer, co-CEO of ON.
Maurer continued, “Our team is constantly rethinking and challenging the status quo in the design, development and manufacturing of performance sportswear. LightSpray technology will help us advance our mission to be the premier sportswear brand rooted in innovation, design and impact.”
For the first time in the brand's nearly 15-year history, the brand is setting up a fully automated production unit at On Labs in Zurich, where the LightSpray and Cloudboom Strike LS will be manufactured and the final shoes will be assembled.
According to the brand, the initial inspiration for Lightspray came from a Halloween decoration video where people were making spider webs with hot glue guns. The team started with a simple prototype shoe upper using a modified handheld hot glue gun, eventually evolving it into a one-piece upper that could be sprayed in one step.
On athletes were heavily involved in the design and testing of LightSpray, but perhaps most influential was four-time world champion Kenyan runner Obiri, who wore a development version of the Cloudboom Strike LS when she won her second consecutive Boston Marathon in April.
Over the next two months, On will be showcasing its unique manufacturing unit that produces LightSpray technology with live production demonstrations, starting at the On Labs pop-up in Paris. The Cloudboom Strike LS is scheduled to launch in Fall/Winter 2024 at www.on.com/lightspray.
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References: The On Cloudtilt is Zendaya's new favorite running shoe.
