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Mizuno was founded in 1906 by two brothers in Osaka, Japan. The duo manufactured baseball gear, building and growing Japan’s love affair with baseball ever since it was introduced in the late 1800s.
Throughout the entire 20th century, Mizuno has been making trainers for a host of different sports: golf, tennis, boxing, running, you name it, and this means the Mizuno archives are full of technology and inspiration for future models.
This year has seen the release of Mizuno’s Wave Rider 10 Premium - a model that is loaded with nostalgia while maintaining a futuristic angle.
The Wave Rider 1 was a landmark running shoe that was released in 1998. It debuted the Wave, a piece of cushioning tech that is still in the shoe’s latest release. Each year saw an updated Wave Rider, arriving at the original Wave Rider 10 in 2007. The 10 was a markedly different aesthetic: it was more aggressive, featured more panelling and layering and became a cult favourite.
Wave Riders are still in production - each release upgrading the running shoe’s features - with the Wave Rider 26 set for release in autumn.
The Wave Rider was a gamechanger for Mizuno. Speaking to High Snobiety, Tuan Le, the designer of the original Wave technology, summarises why it was important: “This Wave technology was the opposite of what Nike Air was. Nike Air was a big airbag that cushioned the impact of running but the Wave Plate stretches out upon impact and propels the runner forward as it returns to its regular waved shape.”
In essence, the Wave Plate created a way for a running shoe to stretch and compress, not just providing support but catalysing explosive power in the heel. This is the premise that On Running built on with their Cloud Tech.
The Wave Rider 10 Premium builds on all of this history and transitions from pure performance to lifestyle, with an entire redesign and a release in two colourways: white/vaporous grey/tradewinds and sky captain/dress blue/metallic grey.
The upper is a sophisticated mixture of suede, mesh and leather, and forms a background for metallic detailing to spring from. The result is minimalist with touches of flare and builds on the aesthetic departure that the original Wave Rider 10 made way back in 2007.