Adidas Reveals the Next James Harden Signature Shoe — and With It a Bold New Technology

Peter Verry
·2 min read

A day after announcing Trae Young will be getting his first-ever signature shoe next year, Adidas revealed the fifth look for NBA star James Harden.

The Adidas Harden Vol. 5 is the latest look for the Houston Rockets star, a court-ready shoe loaded with tech from the German athletic giant. The most notable advancement is Futurenatural, which will debut on this sneaker.

Futurenatural, according to Adidas, is a one-piece shoe mold that “works with an athlete’s natural movement to unlock total freedom and dynamic angles.” The brand said it was made “to mirror an athlete’s speed and quick change of direction” and “offer a seamless design and new 360-degree fit system to create a natural advantage for athletes.”

“Futurenatural is a new process for the creation of shoes, 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,” Adidas Basketball senior director of footwear Rashad Williams said in a statement. “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.”

The debut of Futurenatural will include several Adidas midsole technologies such as Boost, which was added for comfort, and Lightstrike, which was added because it is lightweight and responsive.

To create Futurenatural, Adidas said it looked at thousands of basketball player foot scans to create a new last with an anatomically correct representation of the foot, which allowed the brand to deliver a fit that represents the shape of the human foot. Also, Adidas said it created its seamless design — which sees the outsole forged to the upper — to offer superior lockdown, putting it together using pressure from all directions and 135-degree heat. This was done to give the wearer “full ground contact for a natural feel like they’ve never experienced before.” And its traction pattern, which the company said was “athlete data-informed,” was made for better grip for quicker cuts and dynamic movement.

Although the Adidas Harden Vol. 5 has been revealed, the only release info to be announced by the brand is an early 2021 drop date.

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