Nike Vomero 18 Helps Restructure Running Lineup Around ...

The new Nike Vomero 18 running shoe will lead Nike's new maximum cushioning silo.

As Nike announces a new Vomero 18 running model for release in late February 2025, the Oregon-based footwear manufacturer also gives consumers a fresh approach to picking out a pair of running shoes. The new model helps splits Nike running into three main silos, all based around cushioning.

“Runners were telling us they need a more simplified way to find our product and grounded in a benefit they care for,” Marian Dougherty, Nike’s senior director of global running footwear, tells me. “That was cushioning. It is more intuitive for runners and drives consistency and drives distinction to give runners more choice.”

Each of the three cushioning-based silos—supportive, responsive and maximum—will feature an “icon” silhouette to lead the category. The Structure shoe fits the supportive silo, the Pegasus the responsive and the Vomero the maximum. Dougherty says that each silo will feature a baseline icon shoe and then feature a “plus” version and a “premium” option, models that bring additional features, technology and cost.

The new Nike Vomero 18 will feature the most cushioning the model has ever had when it releases on ... [+] Feb. 27, 2025.

“We are essentially giving runners a different toolbox of benefits they can leverage,” she says. “We are allowing runners the choice to choose what works for them.”

Using cushioning as the baseline benefit offers a way to simplify the offerings while playing to something runners know well—and often care about deeply. Consumers can dip into a silo based on personal needs, such as the Structure offering more support or guidance, a Pegasus model bringing a responsive style of cushioning and the Vomero line highlighting a maximum cushioning experience.

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“I think simplifying our offering does help runners understand what we are trying to deliver them in the product,” Dougherty says, adding that sometimes people view simplicity as a negative, but in this case, it is a positive change. “We want people of all running levels to understand what our product does for them and then choose how to use it.”

Nike restructured its road running lineup to position three models as "icon" shoes for three ... [+] different cushioning silos.

By grounding each silo in a single icon, Nike plans to bring a consistency that runners can recognize. As the offerings move up into the plus and premium spaces—the supportive silo does not yet have a premium option, the Pegasus premium model is planned for January 2025 and the Vomero lineup will release throughout 2025 —that’s where the runners who want more specificity and technology can really explore Nike’s innovation. “As you go up, there’s an opportunity to push into the plus zone with technology and then the premium pushes even more where it might make some people uncomfortable,” Dougherty says. “They can try new technologies and be on the edge.”

Part of that push comes in the announcement of the Vomero 18, launching Feb. 27, 2025, and filling out the maximum cushioning silo throughout 2025 with a plus and then premium model by the end of the year.

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Ashley Campbell, Nike running footwear product line manager, tells me that 2025 is a new era for the silhouette, positioning it as the franchise that stands for maximum cushioning, even as other models from the brand have experimented with the design.

“This update to the Vomero will be the most cushioned we have ever built,” Campbell says. “What runners are asking for is that cushion and comfort, so we amped it up a little bit. This shoe is going to give runners a nice cushioned, comfortable ride.”

A new engineered mesh focuses on comfort on the new Nike Vomero 18 running shoe.

Overall, the Vomero 18 sits six millimeters taller than the Vomero 17, still combining the supportive ZoomX foam from Nike known for an “energetic feel” with the ReactX foam for increased cushioning in both the forefoot and heel. Campbell says the amount of ZoomX doesn’t change, but the additional six millimeters comes from more ReactX, which “adds more cushioning without sacrificing support or durability.”

Campbell says the enhanced cushioning makes the model ideal for new runners, experienced runners looking to increase their miles with less wear and tear on their bodies and competitive runners searching for a recovery shoe.

Runners will notice the increased stack height, now 36 mm in the toe and 46 mm in the heel, and the updated rocker shape. A new geometry was required to match the updated stack height so runners still experience a toe spring and consistent ride. The shoe is built on the same last, but the forefoot, midfoot and heel all get a bit wider to ensure stability.

A new engineered mesh on the upper is meant to feel soft and stretchy with zones of breathability. Campbell says the touch points—the tongue, collar, sockliner, lining, laces and pull tab—were all updated to invite a feeling of softness and comfort.

“What I love,” Campbell says about the Vomero 18, “is how versatile it is in both function and style. Once you get used to this level of comfort it is hard to run in anything else.”