Nike’s new Go FlyEase hands-free sneaker snaps to your foot

Nike is making a new hinged sneaker model designed so wearers can step in without using their hands.

The Nike Go FlyEase shoe, which was unveiled Monday, is part of the company’s FlyEase line. The leash allows wearers to use one or no hands to put on a pair of shoes, whether that person has special needs, is just in a hurry, or has their hands full.

A video posted by the company shows how a hinge built into the laceless shoe allows it to bend into an open position for the wearer to step in. The wearer then puts down their heel to securely close the shoe. To remove the shoe, the wearer presses the heel with his other foot.

“Usually I spend so much time getting into my shoes,” Italian Paralympic gold medal fencer Bebe Vio said in a statement. “With the Nike Go FlyEase, all I have to do is put my feet in and jump on. The shoes are a new kind of technology not just for adaptive athletes, but for everyone’s real life.”

A Fast Company reviewer notes that wearers don’t feel the hinge, which is hidden under the shoe’s footbed, and a tension strap keeps the hinge in place while the shoe is being worn.

Photos shared by Nike show three color choices: a mostly all-black shoe with a dark blue accent; a shoe made in stripes of black, purple, orange, gray and blue; and a shoe in light green, blue, pink and white.

The shoes retail for $ 120 (about £ 88, AU $ 157). Starting February 15, “select Nike members” in North America, Japan, Europe, the Middle East and Africa will be invited to purchase them, Business Insider reports, and eventually the shoe will be more widely available.