At the 2017 Peak China Tour and Dwight Howard III Press Conference, Chinese sports brand Peak introduced the first wearable 3D printed basketball shoe to hit the international market.
Peak is one of the first brands to apply 3D printing technology to a sports shoe. Three years ago, the brand acquired advanced 3D printing, launching the Future I 3D printed running shoes this past May. The Dwight Howard III-3D basketball shoe uses a 3D lattice structure in the middle of the sole, while using the 3D printed TPU structure for the vamp side walls, allowing designers to be more creative.
“This pair of [shoes] has obviously higher performance than traditional ones,” said Howard. “I felt that the 3D printed soles and vamp side walls enable a more comfortable wearing experience. Maybe, one day in the future, you’ll see me wearing the 3D printed basketball [shoes], footwear designed based on R&D carried out by Peak, during an NBA competition.”
Xu Zhihua, general manager of Peak, said, “As a new prototyping and processing technology, 3D printing is of great significance to Chinese sports brands and the country’s Made In China 2025 strategy.”
The brand has plans to apply the technology to additional products in the future.
Photo courtesy Peak
