What made Marty McFly's Nike sneakers seem futuristic?

In the 1985 film "Back to the Future II," the main character, Marty McFly, is seen wearing a futuristic pair of Nikes that had automatic, self-securing laces. The scene in which these shoes are featured was set in 2015, 30 years after the film was released. At this point in history in the real world, however, self-tying laces were not the norm.

In 2014, Nike announced plans to release some version of the self-tying "power lace" shoe in 2015 to coincide with the film's 30th anniversary. In 2011, Nike made a non-functioning replica of the shoes McFly wore in order to benefit a charity founded by the film's star, Michael J. Fox.