Inside Nike’s seven-year design process for the Nike Jam, its first-ever breaking shoe

The sport of breaking will debut at the Paris Summer Olympics, and Nike has just the shoe for it. Here’s an exclusive look at how the Nike Jam was born.

It’s something of an open secret about Nike design. All of its modern performance shoes—whether for jogging, soccer, or basketball—are really variations on a running shoe. Because just about every sport involves running, shoes across categories return energy with every stride, saving you effort and helping you play longer. The approach makes quantifiable sense for most sports.

But not for breaking.