A new language rooted in movement and material intelligence

Words by Michele Fossi

Once again Mental Athletic is supporting On during the most thrilling race of them all: the Boston Marathon. The On Labs will host what is revolutionizing the way running shoes are made: the LightSpray™ technology. We designed a special edition book to celebrate this groundbreaking innovation, by envisioning a posthumous archive enhancing the connection between the human body, high-tech innovation, and nature.

The words of journalist Michele Fossi are an homage to the avant-gardist approach of the Swiss brand, and the meaning of LightSpray™ in the running shoes contemporary scenario.

“We are witnessing the slow collapse of inherited systems—industrial, ecological, and aesthetic—that no longer meet the demands of the present. The future belongs not to mass production or novelty for its own sake, but to tools that adapt, respond, and remain in dialogue with their context. LightSpray™ gestures toward that shift: where innovation is measured not by speed or scale, but by how precisely we can listen, adjust, and evolve.”