The Sneaker Protocol

Footwear design studio by Paulo Ibarra, senior footwear designer (Nike, New Balance, Le Coq Sportif, Topper). Real design processes and concepts.

[The Sneaker Protocol @SneakerProtocol]

@BairesCrypto @evilrabbit_ @TopperArgentina ¡Gracias! Ojalá 🙏 Sería un lujo volver a verlas en la calle y en la cancha. @TopperArgentina 👀

[The Sneaker Protocol @SneakerProtocol]

@evilrabbit_ @manuginobili ¡Nico, qué lindo esto! 🙌 Gracias por buscarlas tantos años y por rescatarlas así. Verlas de nuevo, en 3D y con tanto cariño, es emocionante. Cuando quieras te cuento la historia completa de cómo nacieron las Venom.

[The Sneaker Protocol @SneakerProtocol]

Most brands kill their design DNA when they make a cheaper shoe.

I tried the opposite with ASICS: one design language, four price points. Mega, Ultra, Sonic and City Flag.

https://t.co/HmSibid8J6

#ASICS

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Every shoe starts before the first sketch, with one page: the brief.

Same consumer, different season, and the priorities flip. That's why a brief is never written once.

Sneaker Protocol 101 Ep. 02: https://t.co/dNGOXSwBIT

#sneakerdesign #footweardesign

[The Sneaker Protocol @SneakerProtocol]

Ellesse dresses tennis players and has the heritage. What it doesn't have is a serious tennis shoe.

So I designed two: Fuoco and Maestro. Ellesse has the soul. I designed the sole.

https://t.co/m7F4Sj6lPR

#Ellesse

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More of my design process and concepts on YouTube: https://t.co/pu3xmnjq4K

#SneakerDesign

[The Sneaker Protocol @SneakerProtocol]

In January 2005 I designed a cushioning system in CorelDRAW, for Topper.

Energy-return spheres between two plates, running heel to toe. Mechanical cushioning, not just foam.

It stayed in my archive for 21 years. 🧵

[The Sneaker Protocol @SneakerProtocol]

This year I brought it back with AI, using Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude and New Arc in parallel, and put it in a 2026 racer concept.

Same 2005 idea, finally looking like a real shoe. Would you run in it?

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The PUMA Mostro (1999) was too weird for its time. That's exactly why it deserves NITRO.

Spiked outsole, translucent shroud, today's foam. Past meets present.

https://t.co/Xo6BCE3Lkk

#PUMA

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Super shoes all chase the same lab numbers and forget every runner who isn't elite.

My New Balance Hyper Comp Elite v6 concept, built around Infinion foam.

https://t.co/pyM2S8anmh

#NewBalance

[The Sneaker Protocol @SneakerProtocol]

Vans has been selling basically the same five shoes for decades.

So I designed twelve new ones: court, skate and outdoor. Which one should actually exist?

https://t.co/k6VOMyDOEv

#Vans

[The Sneaker Protocol @SneakerProtocol]

Running shoes all look the same now. Same rocker, same stack, same side stripe.

So I went the other way: a sculpted Saucony Endorphin where the empty space is the design.

https://t.co/OZraHDKbfC

#FootwearDesign

[The Sneaker Protocol @SneakerProtocol]

HOKA was born in 2009. But what if it had been born in 1977, in the middle of the first running boom?

Meet the 1979 Clifton: max cushion, nylon and suede.

https://t.co/m7lvh6M0j0

#HOKA

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Diseñé los botines de fútbol de On antes de que firmaran a Mbappé.

Cloudrush, Cloudglove y Cloudstrike: la tecnología Cloud del running llevada a la cancha, uno para cada tipo de jugador. ¿Cuál usarías?

https://t.co/IxDAFRlH8s

#botines

[The Sneaker Protocol @SneakerProtocol]

Hot take: most "retro" running shoes are lazy recolors of the archive.

Better question: what if On had been born in 2000? CloudTec with Y2K materials and early-2000s attitude.

Meet the On Y2K 👇
https://t.co/8NQmbIWQ3y

#SneakerDesign

[The Sneaker Protocol @SneakerProtocol]

Everyone sees the shoe on the wall. Almost nobody sees the decisions behind it.

Real files from a running collection I built for Topper Brazil: consumer profiles, price ladder, and a product matrix that changed until line review.

https://t.co/INabXhw8MV

#FootwearDesign