Adidas 4DFWD 3D-Printed Shoe Has Carbon Design Midsole

When a company as massive as Adidas starts using a certain sort of technology in their shoes, you know said technology is... pretty much here to stay. Such is the story with 3D printing and the 4DFWD shoe. This isn't the first shoe to use 3D printed parts, but it is very likely the new widest release of a shoe with 3D printed parts. And every new release with 3D printed parts means we're further and further into "here to stay" territory.

The 3D printed portion of this shoe is the most interesting bit about this shoe. It's the midsole that we're looking at, here, made with a lattice design made with 39% bio-based 3D material. The design and printing is executed by Carbon, using Carbon's Digital Light Synthesis technology (Carbon DLS). In the video you'll see below, Carbon describes some of its newest tech for all manner of 3D printed products:

Per Adidas, the newest 4D midsole works with 23% more cushioning and generates "over three times as much forward motion" compared to previous generations of 4D midsole "under vertical loading in mechanical testing conditions."

In the past we've seen shoes made with 3D printed parts. We've seen experimental 3D printed fashion of all sorts. We've seen the most expensive parts, and 3D files available for free on the internet for at-home 3D printers for the masses. Today Adidas revealed that their 4DFWD shoe will be available to all for $200 USD a pair.

The 4DFWD will be released FIRST in a "core black and solar red colorway" that'll be a limited edition. Future editions will be released in coming weeks, too – and the shoe should be easier to find as time rolls on. To make clear the idea that Adidas isn't fooling around with this shoe, there'll be a "special Tokyo Collection drop" that'll be what Adidas calls the "main podium shoe for athletes in Tokyo this summer." This Tokyo edition will be available starting on July 1, 2021. UPDATE: The "worldwide drop" will take place August 12, 2021.