When the world’s largest sportswear brand trades originality for the Miu Miu playbook

There is an exquisite difference between a masterwork and a photocopy, though the photocopy rarely has the grace to realise it. Nike has announced the Sprint Sister, a women’s track shoe from 1979 that is largely exiled from the memory of most. The Oregon brand has been riding on the low-profile sneaker trend—already belatedly—and now they are putting out another. From publicity shots shared with the media, these would not encourage a cursory glance if not for one striking detail: the double laces. And, in contrast colours, no less. When the prototype Sprint Sister was first given the lace treatment, what did the developers think—that no one would notice?

Sneakers with double parts are not new. Nike is aware of it, having collaborated with Sacai that gave the eventual selection of kicks double tongues, double heels, even double Swooshes. Now going on their own, they have decided to continue the twinning by applying it to laces that, unfortunately for Nike, made their first appearance in 2024 when Miu Miu collaborated with New Balance for the 530 SL. The vintage-y sneakers were extra appealing because they sported the two laces on both left and right sides of the shoes. As is unsurprising of Miu Miu, the laces came in contrast colours to effect a mismatch. Not necessarily a bad thing, when it comes to Prada’s sister brand. For Miu Miu, the double lace was a styling choice that felt haphazard and also precious but for Nike in 2026, it feels like a SKU choice, designed for a shelf at a mall.

The commercial reality of this creative stagnation arrives this season. Sprint Sister is part of Nike’s Summer 2026 lifestyle rollout, and is expected to be available in July. That would have been two years after Miu Miu’s cheeky extra lace. The Sprint Sister’s Ridgerock colourway (as seen on the photo above) serves as the lead iteration, and the construction details clearly focus on tactile contrast. If those disconcerting laces aren’t enough, there is also the suede upper in that particular dirty brown that Miu Miu is partial to. It looks to us to be another case of prestige laundering to stay relevant in the skinny shoe era, but a brand as massive as Nike seeking to follow the ideas of others is hard to accept. It was bad enough to see the “inspiration” in a brand such as Anothersole, but to see the Swoosh in the same embrace too is deeply disheartening. Miu Miu, we doubt, was seeking flattery.

Photo: Nike