Salon Interview: Natalie Candrian
TRAVEL & CULTURE SALON
in conversation with
NATALIE CANDRIAN
November 2023
Natalie Candrian is a designer currently based in Zurich, Switzerland where she lives with her husband, three children, and their Bernese mountain dog, Kingston. She and I are acquaintances through a mutual dear friend, and I’m thrilled to have gotten to know her better during our interview and to share her story with you.
Natalie launched her career immediately after college, working at the two most iconic athletic brands in the world: Adidas and Nike. She is the creative force behind the signature sneakers and apparel for several pro athletes in basketball, tennis, soccer, and running.
For the past ten years, she has been designing independently, balancing the challenges of being an entrepreneur with raising a family. During this time, she created American sprinter Allyson Felix’s hit “Saysh One” sneakers and the newly launched “The Felix.” Felix won two medals (gold and bronze) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to become the most decorated U.S. track and field athlete in history—wearing spikes designed by Natalie. She is also the designer of Ormorpho’s groundbreaking weighted training apparel.
Natalie was named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business 2022, and even Oprah declared how much she loooooves Natalie’s sneakers, putting them on her annual “Oprah’s Favorite Things” list. Twice.
The path, however, was not always obvious or easy. Often the only woman in the room throughout her career, Natalie had to skillfully navigate when to put her head down and do the work versus when to speak up. Her career (and the careers of the famous people she’s designed for) is a reminder of the work still to be done to ensure gender equity in the workplace and policies that support mothers.
I’m particularly struck by Natalie’s self-described “happy-go-lucky” attitude. Her journey is marked by an openness to unfamiliar and scary opportunities, an adaptiveness to failure, and a willingness to pivot.
Indeed, the crux of Natalie’s design work requires innovative problem-solving, something she seems to have reflected back into her personal and professional lives with an appreciation, not for outcomes, but for what she’s doing regardless of the outcome.
Heather: Thanks for joining me today, Natalie! You grew up in Switzerland, and your education and work have taken you around the world and back. Can you share a little about your childhood and your path to becoming a designer? Has the world of sport always figured into your aspirations?
Natalie: My pleasure. It’s nice to reconnect. Yes, I grew up in Switzerland. Culturally speaking, there’s easy access to art in Europe, and my parents introduced us early on. But I didn’t grow up surrounded by designers or people in the arts. My entire family is in the hospitality industry, including all my siblings. I was the odd one out in that sense, having always loved to create. I loved to draw. We’d be at a party, and while the other kids were all playing hide-and-seek you could usually find me somewhere in a corner drawing.
In high school, I snagged a pamphlet for the Art Center College of Design from a pile of books a friend was holding and went straight home to tell my parents I wanted to go check it out. This, of course, was way different than anything my family had done, so they were skeptical. We went to visit, and that’s when they got excited. This was industrial design, which in their minds wasn’t “just art” but something more practical.
Natalie’s sketch for the Adidas TMAC1.
Heather: I don’t know many 17- or 18-year-olds who already know they want to go into industrial design. It’s very specific. For we lay people, can you explain more about what industrial design entails?
Natalie: I didn’t know either!
The Art Center College of Design is based in Los Angeles, but at the time they also had a European campus in the French part of Switzerland. The program offered three different tracks. Communications—graphics and illustration, for example—which was all about communicating on a 2-D basis. Then, there was an industrial design track and a transportation design track. Transportation design is based on industrial design, but obviously deals with cars, boats, jets, and so on, and what the school was best known for. I applied to study graphic design for the simple reason that I liked to draw. And because I had no clue what industrial design was.
Industrial design is designing with performance in mind. It’s about creating user-friendly products that perform best in class for their purpose, or perform with new innovation at a higher and more efficient level than what is currently on the market.
It’s also about designing for mass production. You need to learn and understand the materials and methods of production necessary to design a product intended to be produced in automated and bigger-scale factory settings.
It requires a great deal of innovative problem-solving.
“You don't just draw lines in the hopes that it will work out. You observe a consumer's need and interaction with a product, then improve said interaction from a performance point of view”
During my first trimester, we had to complete a 12-week foundational course that included all three majors. That was the first time I got exposed to the 3-D aspect of things: thinking three-dimensional, drawing three-dimensional, building three-dimensional. We were required to build prototypes, and I discovered I really enjoyed “learning by doing.”
My instructors noticed I was drawn to 3-D and strongly advised me to study transportation design, largely because they felt I’d be guaranteed a career since so few women are in transportation. Ha! I enjoy cars, but not enough to build a career around them. So, after I completed art foundation, I chose to go down the industrial design track.
Rag & Bone sneaks designed by Natalie.
Heather: You landed at Adidas right out of school and have made a name for yourself in footwear design. How did you come to specialize in this category?
Natalie: First, I would never consider myself a footwear designer. I am a designer—who designs footwear at times. That said, the world of sports and footwear opened a door for me, and it was all very exciting.
In my second year of college, they closed the European campus, and we were all invited to move to LA. Can you imagine? You’re twenty-one and moving to the United States. To Los Angeles. The crazy part was that pretty much the entire school moved, so you're flying around the world to start over again, but with all your friends, and you literally land at LAX and you start figuring it out as this massive group of people. The LA school was much bigger, too. At the time, I think they had about nine majors, including more fine arts, so the exposure was great.
“I was very much happy-go-lucky. I didn't narrow my path by having a sharp goal.”
When I graduated, I had a one-year working permit as a foreigner, so I started interviewing anywhere and everywhere. Just for the practice. I told myself I wasn’t going to turn down any opportunity because the more you interview, the more you present your work, the more you present yourself—the better. The questions you get, the answers you come up with—it means the next time you’ll know one more way to go about presenting a certain project. I didn’t realize what I was doing was networking. Nowadays, we know that networking is everything, right?
The big question was whether I wanted to work in corporate or for an agency. Again, I interviewed both sides, not quite knowing which I would prefer. I was very much happy-go-lucky in that sense. I didn't narrow my path by having a sharp goal.
“Dreams don’t work unless you do!” ~From Natalie’s Instagram account
The first offer I received was from Adidas, but it wasn’t as if I had set out in search of that particular job or company. Rather, it was offered to me, and I thought, Adidas, not bad! I mean, I was always very active and loved sports. The company’s culture was energetic and young, and the fact that Adidas is a European company was fun for me too. They invited me to join the team in Portland, Oregon, and that was the start of it all.
Heather: So, it’s 1998. Adidas was an exciting opportunity, but it must have been a total boy’s club. What type of workplace challenges did you encounter, if any?
Natalie: Again, I was quite happy-go-lucky, which was helpful in some ways, but it also meant I was quite naive. I was just happy to have a job and get paid. I remember standing in my boss's office on the first day with no idea what I’d be working on. Two seniors from basketball also happened to be there, along with an administrative assistant. The admin asked what category I was going to be in, so she could start helping me get settled in, and my boss announced “Basketball.” And the two seniors, who were these young guys, looked at him and looked at me and looked at him and pardon my language, but they were like, what the f**k, right in front of me.
It was all guys, all of them. And it was literally like what do we do with her? Back then, it was all very blunt. I knew I just had to put my head down and work. I had my education and could hold my own with the other juniors.
Tracy McGrady in his signature TMAC1 sneakers designed by Natalie with an homage to Adidas' all-time classic shell toe. T-MAC 1 debuted in 2002 and became the most-sold basketball shoe across all brands for that year. T-MAC 1 has been relaunched several times since then.
Still, I had to learn footwear design.
I also had to learn “corporate.” Corporate culture is its own thing.
And I had to learn basketball. Not just basketball as a sport but basketball as a culture. Other sports have some sort of culture around them, but basketball goes hand in hand with culture and music and the street and so on. In Europe, basketball isn’t as big as in the States, especially back then. Growing up, I didn't know much about it.
Anyway, I had no clue what I was doing or why they put me on that team. Recently, my former boss and I exchanged messages about something unrelated, and I asked him why he did it. He said, (a) you were qualified to do the job and (b) I wanted a different perspective, to throw those guys a curve ball and see what would come out of it.
And so, I had to learn to speak up and give my perspective. It wasn’t easy, as an introvert and the only woman. The only girl, really, since I was twenty-three. I knew some of my ideas would be naive. Indeed, they were often met with the guys poking fun. It took a while to be taken seriously.
Adidas | TMAC3 | 2004
Heather: I’m sure our readers are eager to hear how you went from zero experience in basketball to designing the signature shoe for a star NBA player. Can you share that part of your journey?
Natalie: Honestly, I’m not sure they would have selected me if Tracy McGrady was already a superstar before the project started. I was not an obvious choice. In any case, maybe two years into my time at Adidas, I happened to get my hands on a project where they paired us up with players they felt had a style that worked with our design style, then asked us to create a shoe based on the character and playing style of that player. They thought my style would work great for Tracy McGrady, who has a very fluid, graceful way on the court.
Once again, I had to do my research because it wasn't obvious to me. That same season, Tracy rose to stardom as a breakout kid. Internally, Addias was frantic to create a signature shoe for him and solidify him with the Adidas brand. Senior management came to our team, and we were like, well, we're actually already working on something. And that's how I got to design his signature shoe.
Up to that point, during the original scope of the project, I hadn’t actually been working directly with Tracy. We were designing for him but not with him. However, once we started the work of creating a signature shoe, it became a collaboration. It was an amazing opportunity. In fact, Peter Moore, himself, became my creative director for the project. We met weekly, and he was very much my mentor for the T-MAC signature shoes. Peter and Bob Strasser had left Nike to start Adidas America, and Peter was an advisor to us at that time. He’s the one who designed the Air Jordan 1, and he was also the graphic designer who came up with the Jordan Wing logo and the Jumpman logo. A true legend. It all kind of snowballed from there.
In hindsight, all I can think is, who gets that opportunity two years out of school?
Heather: What is your creative process like? I’m curious about the intersection of function and storytelling. You’re coming into the design trying to incorporate the story of basketball and its culture, plus the story of the athlete, and I assume your own vision. What else goes into the design?
Natalie: More so than myself, you have the brand. I’m designing for Adidas; I'm not designing as me, per se. That's part of the job. Obviously, you can't take yourself out of the equation, but especially in this case—designing basketball shoes—I'm not designing for me at all.
There are three pillars in the design process: function, emotion, and brand. Function or performance always comes first. What does this shoe have to do? How does this shoe have to function on a basketball court? Because if the shoe doesn't work, the whole thing falls flat. That's where the technology and the know-how come in. My own, certainly, but you also have a team around you. The closest bond is with your developer or engineer, who is the connection to the factory, and then also an extended team of design and innovation.
“How does he move? how does he get around? What are the in-betweens? What do his pauses look like?”
Ahead of designing, I think about the height and weight of these players and the sheer force that goes into a shoe. I think about the movement itself. It’s a lot of lateral movement, but basketball has everything, from running to side-to-side motion to jumping to landing. I also thought about Tracy’s specific playing position and observed him playing—a lot. I had the opportunity to watch him play live in Portland, but I also watched him on TV and in his taped practice sessions. How does he move? How does he get around? What are the in-betweens? What do his pauses look like? That way, it becomes second nature when I start actually designing. I already know, for example, where the traction has to be, where the outsole has to bend, where the flex happens, and so on and so forth.
Tracy McGrady in his signature TMAC1 sneakers designed by Natalie.
What makes me most happy is to layer my job of performance-driven product design with emotion and storytelling. My goal is to reach the customer on an emotional as well as on a practical level. When I manage both, my job is done. I start with the story, the emotions, the words and let it sit in my mind. I see images and start a mood board: some aspects of it are more “mood” based, others start to visualize shapes and form.
“It all starts with that feeling, and the goal is that it keeps going with the feeling, throughout the journey.”
Heather: The signature TMAC shoe debuted in 2002 and is still being reproduced today–a real testament to the strength and innovation of your original design. You designed the TMAC 1,2, and 3. Was the experience similar in the design of each model?
Natalie: There actually wasn’t much pressure with the first. It happened so fast that there weren’t really any expectations or sales numbers to chase. The success of the first shoe, however, brought a lot of pressure for the second and third. I started to notice internal strain and competition since it was such a highly regarded project. Right after the TMAC3 debuted, there was an organizational change at the very top of the basketball category, which trickled down into an overall desire for change, and someone else was asked to design the fourth shoe.
At that point, I wondered, do I move out of basketball? Do I look outside the company? I thought I might be more interested in the fashion side of the industry since that’s a personal passion of mine, which eventually led to an interview and a brief stint at Tommy Hilfiger. I was very intrigued with the Tommy Hilfiger storytelling and the Americana lifestyle behind it. But I quickly realized I missed the focus on functionality, the way the design stakes are heightened in sport. For me, fashion doesn’t allow a designer to ground the design in something more meaningful, and I decided to leave Tommy Hilfiger. It was a big inflection point in my career. After that, I purposefully sought out opportunities in sport. I’d met my husband by then and wanted to stay in Portland, so I called a recruiter and was ultimately offered a position at Nike.
Heather: You spent a good chunk of your career at Nike. How did working at one of the most recognizable and iconic brands in the world shape your professional path?
Natalie: I spent ten years at Nike. For the first three and a half years, I worked in a small specialty group called Explore. We were all creatives, and our job was to look at products through different lenses and from the perspective of different businesses. It could be, for example, from the perspective of different sports or from a gender viewpoint or for a specific consumer. The role went beyond a designer's job to the bigger corporation. It required going around internally at Nike to talk to people outside of design, with experience in different fields, like the business side, the marketing side, etc. Then, we’d present to the very top and make a business case for the idea.
Maria Sharapova, US Open 2006. In an effort to add new excitement to the tournament attire, Nike offered Maria a special dress for her night matches. The inspiration was an athletic version of a LBD. The details are reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's". She won the Grand Slam title that year in this iconic little black dress.
Looking back, I learned a ton. The bigger the corporation you're in, the more specialized you are. You often get your brief, work on your product, and once it leaves your desk, it's onto the next department in its rollout journey. The Explore role wasn’t as specialized as straight-up product design, and it opened up the idea of thinking bigger picture, doing the research, grounding ideas in the numbers, considering the size of the consumer, and so on and so forth. I didn’t know it then, but my time working on the Explore team would be foundational to my work now in the startup world.
“If a product can give an athlete a certain emotion that benefits their confidence–well, that's a job well done on our side.”
After Explore, I spent a year and a half as the design manager in Global Football (soccer), after which I was asked to design the product collection for the court appearance of Maria Sharapova at the 2006 US Open. The opportunity actually came about from my work in the Explore group where I used her as an example for an internal project. It wasn’t anything I was gunning for, but rather a very short-notice project I got pulled into that turned out to be pretty special. Tennis is the sport I love the most, and Maria won the Grand Slam title that year–in the iconic black dress we designed for her.
Wow, it was really something to be at that US Open match. I was standing there with the Nike sports marketing person, who knew Maria well, and she said she could just tell Maria’s whole attitude seemed different. I’ve talked about design and what matters. Performance obviously matters. Once an athlete is in the game or in the match or in the race, whatever it is, they want to forget that they’re wearing a certain product. They need to focus on their performance. And so they shouldn't feel it. That's actually the goal. But, when they put it on, when they walk out, if a product can give an athlete a certain emotion that benefits their confidence–well, that's a job well done on our side.
Maria Sharapova, Wimbledon 2010. The traditionally all-white GrandSlam at Wimbledon inspired the team to create with layers, textures, shapes, and accents of cream. The main body of the dress is fabricated with lightweight, high-performance dry dry-fit textile. The details of her dress are inspired by the beauty and romance of the English rose.
The 2006 US Open project led to Maria asking if I could work with her more in the future. So, I shifted from football to tennis, serving as the creative director for footwear but also as the creative director for Maria Sharapova, which meant overseeing and designing her entire head-to-toe on-court appearance, plus linking her product back to in-line processes for production and sales.
It was very exciting and fun. However, a blended role like mine didn’t exist within Nike, which resulted in some internal conflict. As a designer, you’re compartmentalized, and my coworkers couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that I'm footwear, yet also designing apparel. Not to mention, I was considering what equipment, like her bags and visors, worked with the rest of the uniform. As I mentioned earlier, I'm a designer who designs footwear, at times. It’s fun for me to design the whole look. At the same time, I also like to keep an open mind and love bringing in everyone’s expertise and ideas: our combined efforts make for the best possible outcome. Internally, however, the dual role just didn't fit the bill. It just didn't work.
It was also stressful for other reasons. I became pregnant for the first time just as I started my new role, but hadn’t told anyone yet. You're a mother, so you understand, that with your first pregnancy, you have no clue what’s really coming your way. You’re emotional. Plus, it felt like I was working in three different time zones, so to speak, since everything I was designing for Maria basically had to go onto court within weeks and we were behind schedule. I was also working on a regular product line, which meant working a year to eighteen months out, and I knew I had to work into the future because I was going to be on maternity leave. So it was very stressful, very tumultuous–especially given the tension within the tennis category.
“Lines aren’t just lines. Color and proportions give content and meaning.” ~Natalie Candrian
That's when things kind of went sideways for me at Nike. Three days before I returned from maternity leave I was told I would no longer be working on or with Maria Sharapova. They thanked me, said I did a great job, and that was it. It was awful. I was ready to come back. I’d been sketching at home, strategizing in my head all of the big moments—the Grand Slams, the Olympics, etc. I was so excited to get started again, and they took my job away from me.
“When I came back from maternity leave, I was SUDDENLY PERCEIVED as a mom and less as the designer I was before. ”
For them, it was a good time to put everything back in place since the type of job I’d been doing didn’t exist. Unfortunately, they didn't word it like that. I asked them to explain their reasons for taking me off a job that I was supposedly doing really well—so I could learn from the experience—and they said it had to do with me being a mother. They didn’t think I would have the same capability and capacity.
My jaw dropped. Those comments would violate all of today’s HR rules, but that was 2009. In fact, now it is definitely more respected, cool even, to be both a mom and a professional. Back then, it felt as if you lost your edge as a designer once you entered “mommy land.” I grappled with being both, especially when not feeling supported at work. In any case, I got pretty verbal about it, and things exploded. Eventually, they tried to make things right by me, and I spent my last three years at Nike in the Innovation Kitchen, which is all good. It's a high-profile sort of place to be in that sense.
But the whole matter broke my confidence. It took a lot of time to recover emotionally and find my way again. We had another daughter during those three years, and when she was about sixteen months old I decided to leave the company. I needed a reset. Plus, we wanted a third child, so that was part of the plan, that I would take it easier with the third pregnancy.
That was that. My entire corporate career.
The OMORPHO weighted training vest, designed by Natalie. “The name OMORPHO is derived from Greek, meaning “beautiful,” and is the lens through which we create gorgeous products and services that simplify the pursuit of a fit life.” ~OMORPHO website
Heather: Sadly, your experience dealing with employer bias against mothers is all too common, even now, ten years later. I appreciate you talking so candidly about it. And I loved hearing about the incredible highlights from your corporate career. You’ve been entrepeneuring ever since then, which can be simultaneously exhausting and exhilarating. How has that transition been?
Natalie: It's kind of freaky, or kind of scary and exciting all at once!
In 2018, I got a message from a friend, Stefan Olander, that he had left Nike and was looking for a designer to work with him on his new startup, Omorpho. He wanted to design a high-tech, visually pleasing weighted training vest. Gravity vests existed, but nothing on the market was all that exciting. They all kind of looked like a suicide bomb situation. We brought in Irena Ilcheva, an engineer, also ex-Nike, who specializes in apparel innovation. They have an amazing mind, and we work so well together. They also happened to have a studio for prototyping located in Portland, so the three of us started designing this vest together. It was great, to have all of these Nike minds collaborating.
While working on the prototype, my Explorer experience started to kick back in. We began strategizing a weighted workout collection, not just focusing on one product. That was October, and Stefan thought it would be super cool if we had prototypes to show for the very first advisory meeting in February. Four months to develop a prototype! I remember when he left the studio, Irina looked at me and they were like, What are we going to do? How do you put weights on apparel? And I remember looking at them and thinking I have no f***ing clue how to go about this.
Yet, without fifty corporate hoops to jump through, we could experiment quickly and test it ourselves. We assembled a collection of micro-loaded weighted apparel that is designed for motion as you can add weight no matter what you do. You can wear it to practice, to be on the court, to go for a run. And I say micro-loaded because it's not a lot of weight. Some of these tops are maybe a pound, pound and a half, max two, But, in our science-based research and testing, we were able to measure that it improves your physical output by 8%!
It’s exciting. We’ve won a lot of awards for the vest, and now we’ve got pro-athlete ambassadors, who are obviously always looking for an advantage in their training. But, you and I can use it too. I can use it to walk my dog, go for a hike, or when I’m just doing my workout on an app.
OMORPHO vibes.
Heather: The entire collection is quite sharp. Very 21st century. The Omorpho collection seems to have offered you a blank slate to marry function and fashion in your design work.
Natalie: Designing the brand identity for a new brand is something that I never got to do before. It’s an honor, really, to design the visual identity of a brand through product. To establish a brand’s DNA. It’s a milestone I didn’t even know I was chasing. I mean, being the creative director for product at Omorpho is an amazing journey. Again, I’m learning so much. From the start, we’ve had an amazing advisory board, and I get to sit in on those meetings. I get to see how a brand comes to life and be part of all of it.
And it definitely has a unique look. It’s fantastic to have Stefan as CEO and a team around you that has that same ambition to ensure the product or product line is visually pleasing, modern, and fresh-looking.
“It was not an afterthought that women would play tennis.”
We were also very clear from the beginning that we would launch with both genders at the same time. Weighted women's vests didn’t exist, so we set a goal to get in Women's Health Magazine for product of the year, which we got for both men and women. Designing for both genders was really important to me. When I started in the industry, I would say I designed in basketball because there was only men's basketball. Today, of course, I would specify that it was men’s basketball. Back then, the idea of designing a basketball sneaker for the WNBA wouldn't have even entered the room. I mean, it didn't even enter my mind back then.
Similarly, when I was in football, we developed a boot for the women’s soccer team. Got it all the way ready to market with samples, then it got cut because Nike didn’t think there would be a big enough market for a women’s soccer shoe. That was 2008.
In a way, I think this is why I’ve always appreciated tennis, though perhaps that’s a little bit of hindsight on my part. My mom played, and whenever the Grand Slams were happening our TV was running on that. I knew the sport. I grew up around it. And here’s the thing: It's the one sport that started for men and women at the same time. The one sport that women always played as well. It was not an afterthought that women would play tennis. When you watch the US Open or buy a ticket you get to see the women play and then they're followed by Djokovich and so-and-so, right? There’s a mix. In terms of viewership and attention, it’s pretty equal nowadays. And it’s always been equal in terms of actually going to a tournament–you go, you watch both. They also have equal prize money now, thanks to Billy Jean King who fought for it. And so it's a very progressive sport in that way.
Saysh One, designed by Natalie
Heather: In 2019, Allyson Felix, the most decorated female track and field athlete in Olympic history, wrote a NYT op-ed about her own Nike pregnancy story. I can’t help but think of your Nike story and how remarkable the two of you came together creatively in the most unexpected of ways. Can you tell our readers how your collaboration with Felix came about and what it means to you?
Natalie: Yes, Allyson exited Nike in a very public way after they “offered” to pay her 70% less than her previous sponsorship deal with them and were unwilling to contractually guarantee that she wouldn’t be financially punished if her on-track performances dipped in the months prior to and after childbirth. Her fight sparked change. After speaking out, major athletic sponsors announced they would offer maternity protection and changed corporate policies guaranteeing athletes’ pay and bonuses during and after pregnancy.
However, at that point, Allyson had an apparel sponsor with Athleta, but couldn’t find a footwear sponsor. That’s when she took matters into her own hands. Shortly after I started with OMORPHO, I got a call from another former engineer at Nike, Tiffany Beers. Allyson had asked her to make a pair of spikes for her to run in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and Tiffany wanted to bring me in as the lead designer.
“There we were. our spikes on the starting line at the Tokyo Olympics right next to a pair of Nike’s.”
It was a crazy moment. Here, we have the most highly decorated athlete in the sport, and they want us to design her spike for Tokyo. A spike is a very different thing—it’s ultimately the car, the machine on Allyson’s foot that enables her to do what she does better than anyone else. It was kind of like being asked to design a Formula One race car–in an instant. Normally, you design four years out for the Olympics, with a whole army behind you. We only had a matter of months, and it was just the two of us. We enlisted the support of two other retired Nike legends (Mike Friton and Larry Eisenbach) and got it done.
Allyson Felix on the starting line at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics wearing SPIKE ONE sneakers. Design by Natalie Candrian; engineered by Tiffany Beers.
What a high. We created something without a big corporation at our fingertips, and there we were—our spikes on the starting line at the Tokyo Olympics right next to a pair of Nike’s. We watched it on TV, and I remember Tiffany texted me literally five minutes before the race wondering if I was nervous. What if the shoe falls apart? she asked. It can happen. But it didn't happen. Allyson made history at Tokyo 2020 when she won bronze in the individual 400m and gold in the 4x400 relay and became the most decorated American (male or female) in track and field athletics history at the Olympics—and the most decorated female track and field athlete in Olympic history. Amazing, amazing.
Heather: You’re now on the advisory board for Allyson’s company, Saysh. They offer shoes “designed for women by women.” Now it’s my turn to be naive. I’m dumbfounded that none of the major athletic brands design specifically for women's feet.
Natalie: Women’s shoes are basically a version of men’s shoes–a smaller size and a different color. But, there are differences. Obviously, male and female feet look somewhat the same, but the proportion is totally different. The solid form around which a sneaker is molded, which is called a “last,” has always been based on a man’s foot. Allyson noticed this disparity in the footwear industry after she left Nike and started Saysh. The company’s mission is to create a future in which inequality is undermined by female creativity and athleticism. Tiffany and I worked on Spike One in tandem with Saysh One.
Things are changing, though, which is a testament to Allison and Wes (Allyson's brother and business partner). Lululemon, for example, has launched its own footwear line designed for the woman's foot based on the same conceptual thinking as ours.
Each box of new Saysh sneakers contains a letter from Natalie introducing the design. The Saysh One is inspired by the lines of a wrap dress and reminiscent of Allyson’s workplace—the lines that denote a running track. The design is intended to bridge the worlds of the professional and the casual. “The Saysh One offers the support we need, while maintaining an elegant silhouette with a sculptural heel piece that both fits the female foot and is fitting of her lifestyle.”
Heather: Thank you for this behind-the-scenes look into industrial design and the sports world. I really appreciate what you’re doing to help address gender equity on and off the field. To finish up, can you talk about being a mom and an entrepreneur? Do you fancy ever returning to corporate?
Natalie: I have more freedom, for sure. I can run to pick up the kids at odd times. But it can be really hard. Startups are not calm environments. I put in all these hours that don’t actually pay the bills, but the plan is they will, right? Personally, I find it exciting and believe it will be worth it in the long run. I’m lucky to have a husband who partners with me to make it possible, and I think it’s great that our kids see us doing this together.
I enjoy the effort I'm putting in right now, and I hope my children see that. I think a benefit of my job is that my children can physically see what I do—in the sense that I draw it, and I am up long hours, and I have all these Zoom calls, and I might go to Asia for work, and this and that. But, then, at the end of the day, there are the shoes in a box that Mama designed.
