Adidas Reveals Damian Lillard’s 9th Signature Sneaker During All-Star Weekend
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Adidas is adding to its “new era of disruption” with the Dame 9, Damian Lillard’s ninth signature sneaker.
The model was revealed Friday night at the “Future of Adidas Basketball” party thrown as part of NBA All-Star Weekend, however, Lillard didn’t wear the shoe Sunday night for his MVP All-Star Game performance.
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Like the AE 1 and Harden Vol. 8, recent launches from Adidas that were also highlighted at the party, the Dame 9 is essentially made of two key parts. A black knit base gives most of the upper’s real estate away to a massive safety orange overlay wrapping around 360 degrees with exaggerated trim and wavy lines. A hefty sole unit also makes use of the same color, and as of now it’s unclear how these literal highlighted components work together or what technologies they feature.
Thin Three Stripes branding is cut into the the overlay’s lateral and medial sides, while Adidas’ primary logo also gets tiny embroidery near the lateral tongue.
Adidas has been paying a lot of lip service to its Basketball division’s new direction, and a cohesively offbeat and futuristic design language is quickly being demonstrated across the signature model slate. During the party, Adidas also revealed Donovan Mitchell’s sixth signature shoe, the D.O.N. Issue 6, which will likely be the latest of the bunch to release.
“When we looked at the performance basketball space, we felt that the consumer today is much less brand loyal and looking for newness,” Eric Wise, global GM of Adidas Basketball, told Footwear News in a feature story on the AE 1. “So we saw an opportunity there, and we took a look ourselves and said, ‘Over the last decade, if we’re honest, we’ve been inconsistent at best.’ We wanted to get back to being the best version of Adidas.”
The Dame 9 is a bit behind schedule based on the typical rollout model. Its predecessor, the Dame 8, released in January 2022, while the Dame 8 EXTPLY launched last fall as a bridge of sorts.
Adidas has not yet announced a release date for the Dame 9, but Footwear News will keep you abreast of any updates.
About the Author:
Ian Servantes is a Senior Trending News Editor for Footwear News specializing in sneaker coverage. He’s previously reported on streetwear and sneakers at Input and Highsnobiety after beginning his career on the pop culture beat. He subscribes to the idea that “ball is life” and doesn’t fuss over his kicks getting dirty.
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