BMW Designs New Running Shoes Using Car Technology

First it’s a condom company designing athletic apparel and now a car company is creating a new kind of running shoe. In collaboration with Puma, BMW’s Designworks created the Puma X-Cat DISC, the latest edition to Puma’s DISC footwear franchise. The shoe is inspired by a 2008 concept car called the BMW GINA Light Visionary Model, which is made of a fabric outer shell, consisting of a flexible material stretched over a movable substructure. The material of the shoe is made of the same flexible, ergonomic and lightweight fabric used on the GINA, paired with Puma’s DISC technology in which traditional laces are replaced by a rotating disc that pulls on an internal wire to close and open the shoe.

“The approach was to look at every aspect of making a shoe and try to reimagine it,” said senior vice president of BMW Group Design, Adrian van Hooydonk in a press release. “Freeing yourself of what is here now can be an enjoyable and rewarding exercise, typically it also speeds up change.”

The Puma BMW X-Cat DISC is now available for purchase at $135.