25 crazy sneaker deigns that Nike thinks could be the future of footwear

By all accounts, Nike is a major innovator in sneakers and sportswear.

And if their new exhibit at the Milan Design Expo 2016 is any indication, they got there through some pretty out-of-the-box thinking.

Starting with the company's proprietary "Flyknit" shoe upper - a kind of stretchy woven fabric that allows the foot to flex and expand in the shoe - the company has envisioned what could make up the bottom of the shoe in the future.

And the answer ranges from hair curlers to a map, and includes everything in between.

Called "The Nature of Motion," the exhibit is meant to "manifest the previously unimaginable" to find out what the future of athlete footwear really could be.

In 2020, when you're wearing sneakers with cat whiskers on it, you'll know where that idea come from.