Those brainstorming sessions to improve on HOVR continued through 2018 until a note came through from UA’s counterparts in Shanghai. When the elements interacted, responsiveness and energy return was engaged. The Energy Web was a mesh fabric made to protect the foam. That foam compound was wrapped in what UA called an Energy Web. Their discussion led to UA’s signature cushioning platform, HOVR, a development that marked another big moment in their design history.
A group of chemists and engineers were just talking one day, trying to imagine something big, “pie in the sky” ideas, as Luedecke puts it. Luedecke explains that the idea of Flow first began in 2017. That was the night that Curry got to finally experience a near-finished version of the all-new system. Rubber has been a mainstay of basketball sneakers for a century and it continuously squeaks, echoing throughout every gym and park where there’s a hoop. Squeaking and sliding costs time on the court that could result in open looks or in blown defensive assessments. It doesn’t slide, which means it doesn’t squeak. It’s a proprietary technological leap forward that allows for a completely rubberless outsole made of foam. What made that moment so special for Curry was the introduction of Flow. “I think that’s one of the first leaks when you were on the Warriors Instagram, some of those leaks were from that specific product because that’s the one he actually was like, ‘Ahhh, I’m taking these.’” I think he would’ve went out wearing those shoes that day if we would’ve let him.” And I will tell you even though he the actual cast on, it was hard getting that shoe off his foot. He just gets up, you can just see this smile, almost like this big grin, as if he just hit the game-winning three pointer just coming across. I think on one foot he had, I think, the Curry 7. I remember that smile that was on his face. “At the time, Steph still had the hand injury, so he had a big cast on his hand, and I remember we actually had to get someone to put his shoe on for him, tie it up. “I remember that meeting we had with him at Stanford,” Segears adds. Now that it’s actually on shelves and on fan’s feet all across the world, it means a lot to know that that’s where it all started.”
From there the excitement around what we were building was kind of cemented. For me, like you know, I always get excited for that moment when you try something new but this one was something that kind of took it over the top in terms of the feel, the comfort, obsoleting rubber, and just the whole story behind Flow.
“That moment was special because it allowed me to kind of see the future and where we could go with product and just that experience for anybody that wears it. The two-time MVP confirmed the story a few days later. That was the moment that they knew years of hard work were going to pay off. We’re in a restaurant, in the backroom of a restaurant, so there’s no way for him to take them out on the court, but you can see, he’s like, ‘That’s the shit right here.’”Īnd then both Luedecke and Segears laugh. “And puts on the shoes and the moment he has them on his feet, you just see, like, this smile on his face, he’s just smiling, and he goes into the corner, he bounces up and down, he does a couple of things. “Steve did a phenomenal job of just storytelling and digging into all the materials and colors, opportunities along the way,” Luedecke continues. His colleague, Steve Segears, Senior Merchant, Global Merchandising at Curry Brand, is smiling along with the beginning of Luedecke’s story. “And I remember we had the ‘Flow Like Water’ colorway at that point.” “November 2019, we met up with near Stanford at a restaurant,” Luedecke tells SLAM. And even after everything he’s done in the industry, he’s speaking with the excitement of a fresh-out-the-blocks rookie about Curry Brand while he takes a walk down memory lane in a pair of Curry 8s. His name, to keep it as simple as possible, is attached to some famed silhouettes. He and his basketball sneakers have been around the block a few times. Tom Luedecke is Under Armour’s VP of Footwear Development and Engineering.
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