????哈爾是一名理想的耐克員工：身體健壯，沉默寡言。

????耐克運動研究實驗室的應用服裝研究主任巴里·施皮林如此形容他的同事。實際上，“哈爾”是一個高科技的人體模型，專為耐克公司測試產品。最近，哈爾一直忙于評測服裝如何為運動員保暖，如何增強透汗性。

????耐克通過哈爾，以及諸如紐約巨人隊橄欖球運動員維克多·科魯茲這類體育明星，來研究如何實現服裝的最佳性能。另外一項重要工具是配有跑步機的環境模擬室——耐克可自由控制房間的溫度、濕度、風速和熱度。

????然后，耐克會將它的設備帶到戶外，進行一次試跑。為了研制今年上市的防寒裝備，耐克研究團隊特意趕赴挪威、波蘭和丹麥，希望更好地了解如何根據不同寒冷環境設計服裝。

????公司希望憑借各種工具，在競爭激烈的運動市場占據領先優勢。目前，這個市場既有老牌競爭對手阿迪達斯，也有許多發展迅速的新對手，如Under Armour。

????施皮林表示，他們努力的成果便是消費者今年秋天在商店看到的那些產品。其中包括AeroReact，這款產品據說可適應跑步者體溫的變化。另外一款產品Therma-Sphere Max，采用凸起節點技術，可吸收靠近身體的溫暖空氣，與防寒泳衣保持水分的原理類似。

????點亮黑夜

????在設計最新冬季產品時，耐克從北極光中找到了靈感。

????這種自然光正是耐克節日系列的一個重要靈感源泉。今年的節日系列首次推出彩色反光元素。傳統的耐克反光裝備只有一種銀白色。今年的反光服裝和跑鞋則增加了紫色、藍色和橘色，以搭配耐克公司種類豐富的新品顏色。

????耐克資深跑步服裝設計師盧克·哈默說道：“跑步者都希望能夠引起司機的注意。我們經常聽到人們說：‘我想去跑步，但首先要保證安全。’”

????Hal is the ideal Nike employee: strong and silent.

????That’s how Barry Spiering, director of applied apparel research at Nike’s Sport Research Lab, describes his colleague. For the record, “Hal” is a tech-savvy mannequin that Nike NKE -1.42% uses to test products. Lately, Hal has been busy assessing how well apparel can keep an athlete warm and how well it allows sweat to evaporate.

????Nike uses Hal, as well as elite athletes like New York Giants football player Victor Cruz, to figure out how its clothes can best perform. Another key tool is environmental chambers, which are rooms with treadmills where Nike can control temperature, humidity, wind speed, and heat.

????Nike then takes its gear outside for a test run. For the cold-weather gear on sale this year, its research team went out for runs in Norway, Poland, and Denmark to get a good sense of how the apparel should be conceptualized for a variety of cold-weather environments.

????The company is hoping its arsenal of tools can give it the edge it needs to stand out in a crowded athletic field that has established competitors like Adidas and fast-growing rivals like Under Armour UA -1.91% .

????Spiering says his team’s hard work has resulted in product developments consumers are seeing in stores this fall. They include AeroReact, yarn that is engineered to adapt to changes in a runner’s temperature, and Therma-Sphere Max, raised-node technology that traps warm air close to the body in the same way a wetsuit holds water.

????Seeing the light

????When Nike set out to design its latest winter line, it found inspiration in the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights.

????The natural light display was a key inspirational element behind Nike’s holiday collection, which features colored reflective properties for the first time. Traditionally, the reflective gear Nike sold was only a silvery white. This year, purple, blue, and orange appear in its reflective apparel and shoes, matching the color palate of Nike’s broader collection.

????“As a runner, you want to make sure you get the attention of the driver,” says Luke Hammer, Nike’s senior designer for running apparel. “We hear more and more, ‘I want to get out there and run, but feel safe.”

????哈默提到，耐克跑步者在夜間使用裝備的興趣日益增加。在冬天，日照時間縮短，反光元素變得非常關鍵。

????耐克至少從上世紀80年代開始，便一直在設計具有反光特性的服裝。此次的創意是在服裝中采用小反光玻璃珠。耐克也在努力確保這些珠子可耐機洗，并且不會過于生硬，影響總體性能。設計者在主要關節部分增加了反光元素——腳踝、膝蓋和手腕。

????哈默說道：“反光元素的位置必須確保看到它們的人認為：‘那是一個人，而不是一個標志或一種動物。’”

????運動休閑風潮

????耐克聲稱，性能是耐克設備的立身之本。耐克訓練產品經理泰倫·滕格森承諾：“每一處設計都有特定的功能。”她表示，每一種布料的選擇、拉鏈或連帽運動衫，都是為了幫助運動員取得更好的表現，而顏色和印花則是為了跟隨時尚趨勢。

????但不可否認的是，耐克公司也從運動休閑風潮中獲得了好處——越來越多的消費者不僅在運動時穿運動服裝，也會穿著它們去購物、吃早午餐、外出辦事或者去任何地方。

????Susquehanna金融集團分析師克里斯托弗·西維亞表示：“是的，他們一直在為運動員設計高科技產品，幫助運動員提高表現。但耐克公司業務增長的一個重要推動力，則是為普通消費者生產產品，不論他們是不是運動員。”

????需要注意的是，耐克公司在過去25年間積累的設計專利數量，在美國位居第三位。

????本月早些時候，耐克公司總裁兼CEO馬克·帕克在俄勒岡州比弗頓召開的投資者報告會上表示：“我們不斷受到運動員的激勵和啟發，去創造更新、更好的產品。”在這次報告會上，耐克公司宣稱，到2020財年，公司將實現年收入500億美元的目標，跑步類產品的營收規模屆時將達到75億美元。而反光技術正是這類產品的最大創新。（財富中文網）

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????審校：任文科

????Hammer points to the increasing interest by Nike’s runners to use the gear at night. Reflective properties are especially critical in the winter months, when daylight is in short supply.

????Nike has been in the business of making gear with reflective features since at least the early 1980s. The idea is to incorporate small glass beads that can reflect light into the clothes. Nike also aspires to ensure those beads are durable for machine washing but also aren’t too stiff to hinder performance. The reflective elements are purposely added to key joints—ankles, knees, and wrists.

????“It needs to be in places where the eye thinks ‘That’s a human’ and not a sign or another animal,” says Hammer.

????The athleisure movement

????Nike asserts its gear is rooted in performance. “Everything has a function,” promises Taryn Thogerson, product line manager for Nike Training. Each fabric choice, zipper, or hoodie is meant to help an athlete perform better, she says, while color and print selections are used to match fashion trends.

????But there is no denying that Nike is also capitalizing on the “athleisure” movement—a consumer trend to increasingly wear athletic gear not just for exercise, but also while headed to the grocery store, brunch, errands, or just about anywhere.

????“Yes, they make technical product for an athlete, to make an athlete better,” says Christopher Svezia, an analyst for Susquehanna Financial Group. “But the big driver to their business is really to make product for the average consumer whether they are an athlete or not.”

????Still, it should be noted that Nike has also built the third-largest design patent portfolio in the U.S. over the past 25 years.

????“We’re constantly being pushed or inspired by the athlete to create something new, something new and better,” Nike president and CEO Mark Parker said during an investor presentation earlier this month in Beaverton, Ore. It was there that Nike vowed to hit $50 billion in annual revenue by fiscal 2020. The company sees the running category—where its reflective technology is a key innovation component—becoming a $7.5 billion business by 2020.