Nike Just Turned Air Into a Fabric, and It Actually Works - Yanko Design

The Nike ACG Radical AirFlow is a performance top with cone-shaped airduct holes arranged in deliberate patterns. The openings are engineered to use the Venturi effect and Bernoulli principle so air accelerates through narrowed spaces and pressure drops. This physics-driven airflow is built into the fabric layer worn during running. Nike testing reports the top absorbs and retains 50% less sweat than DriFit and reduces resistance to sweat evaporation by 25%. The cooling benefit supports active use in heat, whether hiking or running. The design comes from Nike All Conditions Gear, focused on outdoor performance rather than gym training.

"The shirt is the Nike ACG Radical AirFlow, and calling it a "shirt" feels generous. It looks more like a sweater that had an encounter with a drill press. Cone-shaped holes punctuate the fabric in deliberate patterns, creating what Nike calls airducts. They're not just decorative (though they definitely are that, too). They're functional in a very specific, physics-driven way. The design harnesses the Bernoulli principle and the Venturi effect, two concepts most of us haven't thought about since a physics class we may or may not have paid attention to."

"The short version: as air moves through a narrowed opening, it speeds up and pressure drops. Nike essentially engineered that phenomenon into a fabric layer sitting on your body while you run. The result, according to Nike's own testing, is a top that absorbs and retains 50% less sweat than DriFit, the brand's long-trusted performance fabric. It's also 25% less resistant to the evaporation of sweat."

"For those of us not running ultramarathons in the California mountains, those numbers might sound abstract, but the principle holds whether you're hiking a trail in August or doing anything remotely active in heat. The body cools itself through sweat, and anything that helps that process happen faster is worth paying attention to. What makes this interesting beyond the performance specs is how it got here."

"What makes this interesting beyond the performance specs is how it got here. The Radical AirFlow came out of Nike's All Conditions Gear line, a sub-brand with a very specific purpose: designing for the outdoors, not the gym. ACG lives by the motto "Designed, T"

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