On Predicts a Big 2026 With Spray-On Uppers For Sneakers

On gears up to reshape running in 2026 with spray-on uppers, wild foam breakthroughs and zero interest in chasing hype it can’t disrupt.

On is cooking up stuff that sounds like sci-fi for your feet. Caspar Coppetti and Scott Maguire showed up in San Antonio for The Running Event and basically called dibs on the biggest running tech of 2026 with new spray-on uppers tech.

Maguire only stepped into the chief innovation officer job in April, and he’s also taking over as COO in January. He’s moving so fast that the Cloudsurfer 3 was ready to show just four months after development kicked off. The shoe launches in fall 2026 and will be the first in history to punch holes into supercritical foam. We’re talking vertical slanted channels that change how your foot transitions on each stride. Maguire said, “No one in the world can do this. All of our suppliers said [it’s] impossible.” Then they went ahead and did it.

On Spray-On Uppers Sneakeres Cloudboom — Image Credit: On

Those holes mean around 20 percent more displacement and energy return. Nerd speak for: you get more bounce without feeling like you’re running on a trampoline. And the secret sauce? Some “funky things” happening in an autoclave to create tiny, consistent nitrogen pockets throughout the foam. They won’t give away the recipe. This is the KFC secret of sneakers.

Before the Cloudsurfer 3 gets its spotlight, On wants everyone talking about Lightspray. They’re dropping the Cloudmonster 3 Hyper with a spray-on upper that first appeared on the Cloudboom Strike LS. Think sock-like fit, crazy breathable and about 50 grams lighter. By March, they’ll have hundreds of thousands of robots spitting out Lightspray uppers like a sneaker Terminator factory. The tech pairs with a performance sock for cushioning and heat control where you actually need it.

On Spray-On Uppers Sneakers Cloudboom — Image Credit: On

Coppetti says Lightspray is already as big a deal as CloudTech for them. He wants it everywhere, especially heading into the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. “Not everybody will be able to get it, but we’ll have a couple hundred thousand people in Lightspray next year,” he said. Running leads the way, but lifestyle pairs are waiting in the wings because, let’s be real, half the people wearing high-tech runners don’t run.

Basketball? They’re staying out for now. Steph Curry may be a free agent after leaving Under Armour, but Coppetti kept it blunt: “If we’ve not got anything and it’s an inauthentic play just to grow the business, we’re not that interested.”