NT, school me on the Nike Zoom Haven

cpt soto

cpt soto

152
10
Joined
Apr 7, 2006
I've always liked the shoe, and am expecting my first pair to arrive in the mail any day now. I tried looking up the history and design inspiration of the shoe online, but haven't found much luck. Can anybody point me in the right direction?
Thanks!
 
No offense, but if you've never heard of the shoe, then you're not helping to answer my question. It says in my post that I've already looked online (Google) for references, but couldn't find much.

I'm looking for a knowledgable collector to help me out.
 


"The Nike Air Zoom Haven was another shoe Richard Clarke designed when I was working in Cross Training, and its original design name was called the Cocoon. When I first saw the sketch and concept, Richard literally presented a cocoon, and was like, 'Trust me, it's going to be a cool shoe.' And I was like dude, 'You're showing us a cocoon!' He was inspired by a morphing concept, and he was right, the shoe is rad."

I worked for NIKE Basketball Research and Development when these were launched.  The Air Zoom Haven was part of the Alpha Project, which featured statement level technology in each category (running, cross-training, basketball, etc...).  In some ways it could be viewed as a precursor to the current Hyper and Fuse lines because the upper utilized lightweight layers of synthetic materials.

Below is a design sketch included in the inspiration for the Air Zoom Trainer.


 
7bc159456fc2cdb07224c93ece87853c2707f61.pjpg



I never wore the Zoom Haven, but I did own the Air Zoom Seismic which was actually the first Alpha Project cross-trainer and a very similar shoe. 

1af0a3b037a7050aeeb2e8b0d4d59c7bde0aa7a7_m.jpg
 
CWK, THANK YOU for those sketches! I read that first part about the cocoon online earlier today. I had a pair of the Air Max Seismics in the red colorway, but never had a pair of the Zoom Seismics, those are sweet!

I've always loved Alpha Project shoes, they always stood out from what was out there on the shelves at the time.

Thanks for the info!
 
i used to have the zoom havens back in the day. very very narrow shoe and i didnt get to enjoy them at all. They are more narrow than jordan trunners. They had a unique cross feet strap that stretched over the whole of the shoe. 

professor K highly recommended these too.. 
 
Shoe is dope as hell.  I had a black pair in like '99 that I beat to crap, particularly because you can't really wear the zoom haven with socks.  More of a sweats type shoe. 

sb1324

sb1325

sb1326



Been looking for that pair ever since.  In looking them up I just ran accross a pair in my size on ebay for $380!!!  That is insanityland.  Anyway, the only other pair I came across was these (and i did buy them but have never brought myself to wear them - these are obviously not my pair):

img_387304_3478074_1



They also made them in a leather material but those are terrible to me.
 
^ Leather pair wasn't great but a good outlet pickup. Always wanted that anthracite/orange pair but never could find a price I was comfortable with.
 
I got that exact black/orange pair for $19.99 at the Nike outlet in Saint Andrews, Florida. Very comfy and that ankle strap really cinched your heel in when tightning the laces.
 
From what I can recall, they released around 1999-2000, with colorways coming out up until maybe 2005.. Most of them were international co.jp type releases, in those funky color combos. Most of which cannot be found in larger sizes.. Just an overall very popular shoe overseas (at least it was... I'm not sure now).

One of the coolest features and reasons for it being called a Cocoon was the nylon lace loops..
5af1584763c2c1b8491d9260f5412e625490241_r.JPG


Four of the five actually connected one side to the other via the outsole with the exposed nylon showing.
07235e1748806910c123c399bc44b0e3a745208_r.JPG


The other upper nylon lace loop connected through the heel of the shoe and back around to the other side.
c62258e4f2630c57c0fbc07d43d68e436332be8_r.JPG


The shoe has a true lock down feel to it.

Currently if you are on the market, watch out for yellowing on the upper "rubber" and even cracking on the upper lace loop section
 
I can affirm that yellowing of the clear/white plastic sections does occur which is aesthetically off-putting, happened to a pair of mine which I ended up just stashing away.

I still have the black/black/orange and the "Mean Greens" but will most likely end up selling them... Fit on these is a hit or miss, if you have wide feet these could be troublesome.

Best part is the Zoom ride feeling/effect which is very pronounced in such a low profile shoe.

Only gripe I have is that the Zoom insole is embedded thus I cannot transfer the Zoom to another shoe

Hhhhmmm I wonder why Nike hasn't retroed THIS model yet but in Flywire? I would think it's a no brainer considering the cross body support straps act like external Flywire to begin with.... Get to it Nike...
 
was quite a cult fav back in the day, circa 2006 i guess?

the special thing about them was the laces. they wrapped aroung each of the plastic cage/eyelet things, and through the metal midfoot shank, and thru the rear rubber piece.

the harder u tightened ur laces, the more they cinched around your foot, creating a custom fit.

i tried lifting in them, but the zoom was too cushy for such a gig.

yes u read right, too cushy LOL.

in other words, they are a very very incredible casual shoe, u could stand/walk in them the entire day, and not feel ur feet tire., unlike some brons or most basketball shoes for that matter.
 
Originally Posted by MP23

I got that exact black/orange pair for $19.99 at the Nike outlet in Saint Andrews, Florida. Very comfy and that ankle strap really cinched your heel in when tightning the laces.
Click to expand...

damn, reckon u could help get me a pair? pic of my old pair, thing fell apart after a good few years in them.
had the olive drab green colorway as well, loved these havens to bits.

and no, the seismics are totally different from these.
these feel much much better.

402554_10150455519608870_778801673_n.jpg
 
^ Prime example of the oxidized/yellowed plastic parts.

As I recall had a chance to buy some blue/yellow Seismics when they first dropped on clearance for $50 but the deal breaker was they were like strait jackets they were soooo tight it was uncomfortable.
 
cowed77,

I am so sorry for the late response, I forgot I even posted in here lol. By now man, its just poring over outlets and ebay. That was really random and I got them in the summer of 2006. It was by pure dumb luck that I found em. Sorry I can't be more of help than that.
 
interesting shoe. narrow = no go for me tho. cool concept. Also very dope this shoe uses the true concept of flywire... in my eyes anyway
 
Very dope shoe but as others stated they did run narrow, didn't seem to catch on in the States and bigger sizes were hard to come by.
 
Love this shoe. It looks so futuristic. I picked up a pair back early 00s at the outlet. Sorry for the recycled pic. The zoom haven color I missed out on was the white based with R/W/B straps. :smh: Those were so nice. EDIT: Hated that the heel part of the shoe would dig in the back of my ankle and bleed. :x

1000
 
Last edited:
I hate to bump an old thread, but I just won a pair of these for 6.45 total 20 bucks after shipping. So hyped.
 
I have a pair of white/chrome Zoom Havens. One of my all-time favorite shoes. I need to get on the search for some pairs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

The ultimate sneaker enthusiast community.

NikeTalk was created as a way of giving back to both the sneaker enthusiast community and to the greater global community of which we are all a part.

NikeTalk is NOT affiliated with Nike Inc. in any way, shape, or form. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Nike, Inc.

© 1999-2024 NikeTalk.com

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom