Sneakerheads and animal lovers alike will be lining up for this month’s hottest drop.
Adidas has teamed up with vegan designer Stella McCartney to launch a new iteration of the AlphaEdge 4D, a sock-knit sneaker with a 3-D printed midsole.
Digital manufacturer Carbon, which began its partnership with Adidas on its Futurecraft 4D midsole technology late last year, again lent its expertise to the Stella McCartney collaboration. True to the British designer’s ethos, the Stella McCartney x Adidas x AlphaEdge 4D model will use only cruelty-free materials.
The shoe will feature a black mesh upper with the Stella McCartney logo woven into the throat of the sock. McCartney chose a muted off-white tone for the midsole to complement the black upper, moving away from the light green color that distinguished prior AlphaEdge 4D products in the Adidas line. The limited-edition women’s sneaker is set to drop this month, retailing for between $350-$450.
McCartney, who debuted her eponymous label in 2001, has been a vocal pioneer in the movement to end animal cruelty in the fashion world. The brand is committed to only using vegan materials and textiles in its line of ready-to-wear apparel and footwear.
McCartney’s designs— often sleek, sporty silhouettes— provide a complementary aesthetic to streetwear giant Adidas. The two brands have worked together for more than a decade on the Adidas x Stella McCartney line of activewear, and strive for sustainability by utilizing recycled polyester, ocean plastic and cotton in the collection. In September of last year, the two brands debuted a vegan leather version of Adidas’ iconic Stan Smith sneaker.
This foray into 3-D printing for footwear is new for McCartney, though Adidas’ collaborative efforts with Carbon to form its Futurecraft 4D technology began in late 2018 with the launch of its first AlphaEdge 4D model. According to the brand’s website, the 3-D printed midsole’s “single-component design is precisely tuned for controlled energy return,” and the technology was crafted “based on 17 years of athlete data.”
Analyzing the gait and strike pattern of athletes in motion helped determine where wearers would need the most support. The project required the development of a resilient, elastic-based compound to support the lattice structure used in the midsole’s design, according to a statement on Carbon’s website.
