Nike began working on ‘Flyknit’ technology in 2007. After five years of development and 195 rounds of adjustments, trainers made with the new technology were first worn at the 2012 Olympics by Somalia-American long-distance runner Abdi Abdirahman. The Flyknit technology allows Nike designers to micro-engineer every stitch of the shoe’s upper, scientifically tuned to meet the exact specifications of athletes. It features an upper knit with a super-light, strong fabric, without the weighty structure of traditional shoe making. The pattern is created via a computer program, which allows for infinite subtle, immediate and specific customisation. It is also a far more sustainable method of manufacture than conventional trainer production as instead of cutting irregular shapes from a rectangular cloth, each Flyknit upper is knitted exactly to size resulting in very minimal waste.