These trainers were designed by Svante Berggren and manufactured by Airia. Svante Berggren who was a runner and inventor started designing shoes in 1992.

These trainers have a distinctive upward bend in the shoe which is designed so that the shoe rocks in a continuous forward motion. The makers claim that the unusual shape is biomechanically optimised to make serious runners improve their running speed by changing stride and gait patterns. Airia claims that the Airia One trainers are engineered to improve running performance. The claims are based on a theory that a bio mechanical difference affects each stride. The leg muscles are utilised in unique capacities and since the shoes alter the muscular usage patterns for the stride with a unique design, the makers claim that users will be able to run faster and/or longer, especially at maximum efforts. The key design features are that the sole is thicker on the outside of the foot compared to the thinner big toe side. This results in a zero drop from the heel to the outside of the mid foot and a 6mm drop from the outside to the inside (known as a “cant” or “slant”) for the purposes of a more even distribution of impact when the foot lands and stability.

These trainers were acquired as part of the Shekou Project, an international partnership between the V&A and China Merchant Shekou Holdings (CMSK) to open a new cultural platform called Design Society in Shekou. It was included in the inaugural exhibition, ‘Values of Design’, in the V&A Gallery at Design Society in a section exploring the issue of performance as a design value.