In early 2021, Adidas will drop its latest footwear technology, Futurenatural. Designed to mirror an athlete’s speed and quick change of direction, Futurenatural offers a seamless design and 360-degree fit system.
The one-piece shoe mold works with an athlete’s natural movement for freedom and dynamic angles. The first iteration of the technology will be featured on James Harden’s fifth signature basketball sneaker, Harden Vol. 5.
The design features Adidas’ midsole technologies with Boost for comfort and LightStrike which provides superlight cushioning while still retaining responsiveness.
“Futurenatural is a new process for the creation of shoe, and is a perfect technology for Harden Vol. 5 with James’ dynamic style of play and moves on the court being unlike any other player,” said Rashad Williams, senior director, Footwear, Adidas Basketball. “James offers feedback from a design and feel standpoint which is extremely important during our creative process and it ultimately led us to develop the Futurenatural technology to match his game.”
Adidas looked at three criteria when designing the shoe:
- Fit: Looked at the foot scans of thousands of basketball athletes worldwide and conducted extensive research to create a new last, or shoe mold, that delivers an anatomically correct representation of an athlete’s foot. This creates a fit that closely represents the shape of the actual human foot and acts as an extension of the body.
- Lockdown: Adidas design team created an evolved process to forge the textured upper of the shoe using extreme pressure from all directions (360-degrees) and 135-degree heat. The outsole is then assembled to the forged upper of the shoe. The seamless upper and outsole give athletes full ground contact for a natural feel.
- Freedom of Movement: Futurenatural features an athlete data-informed traction pattern that delivers a better grip for quicker cuts and dynamic movement.
Illustrations courtesy Adidas
