FUTURISTIC TENNIS SHOES WILL KEEP PACE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Is it possible that athletic shoes are going to be more outrageous in the future than they are now?

"Ten to 12 years from now we may not recognize athletic shoes," Ken Sliva, manager of Finish Line sports shop in Cape Girardeau, said. "They'll be totally redesigned from what they are now, as new plastics and all that becomes available. There are prototypes that I've seen that are real different."

Sliva said aggressive marketing is going to play a role in the design and technologies of shoes as companies like Adidas, Converse and Reebok try to eat into Nike's share of the shoe pie.

"I don't know if it can be more aggressive between them than it is now, but internationally is where a lot of it is going to take place," he said. "But they've got to watch what they do."

Sliva said Reebok backed a line of shoes with insta-pump technology, which enabled a bladder within the upper of the shoe to inflate and wrap around the foot, with an high-priced ad campaign.

"It was a big flop," he said. "They've got to make sure that if they go after something, it's what the customers want."

Styling is what is most important to teen-agers and function is vital for adults when choosing a shoe, Sliva said. That means teens' shoes may continue a wild design trend as the companies try to outdo each other to be noticed.

Technology, which is pushing shoe cushioning and durability, will play a large role in claiming the adult market. As it is now, Nike has come out with a shoe where the customer is literally walking on air.

"Seventy-five to 80 percent of the midsole of one of their basketball shoes is an air bag," Sliva said. "They're getting real close to putting out a shoe that is all air in the midsole."

James Green, a manager at Howard's Sporting Goods shop in Cape Girardeau, said space-age technology is being combined with recycled goods to form many of the shoes people are wearing.

"It seems that everyone wants to have a weird cushioning in the shoe," Green said. "They want to have an air pack or a gel pack or something that looks like a big honeycomb to disperse the shock. That seems to be where everyone is battling right now in the cushioning."

Then there are some companies that are using recycled tire tread to make soles more durable.

While soles and cushioning are becoming more complicated the shoes' uppers are slimming down. Recently many shoe companies experimented with sandals that had top-of-the-line cushioning and injury protection and almost nothing on top.

"I think the concept is neat and I think you'll see it again here in the next couple years if folks will try that," Green said. "But it didn't carry over real well in retail. There was a triathlete that used then and ran in them so you know it was a good performance thing but it didn't sell well in retail and that's what drives it."

As with any retail business, it is the consumers who will ultimately decide how shoes are made and what they look like.

"Shoes, like anything, have a product life cycle where sometimes colors will be a real important thing and then the next thing you know it will be back to a real conservative or basic look," Green said. "Nike continues to do the technology that they have to do. They make a real good shoe as well as having that little swoosh on there."