Can
they do the same for the company? It wasn’t until James Carnes saw a rough sketch of a strange
running shoe--the sole dotted with rounded, angled blades--that he thought the concept would actually work. “We’re taking a rigid and stiff material and making it look soft and elegant,” says Carnes, the head of global design for Adidas. “That’s hard. This was something we always wanted but didn’t think we could get.” It took a few years, but that drawing is now a shoe. Yesterday, Adidas launched the Springblade, which goes on sale August 1. At $180, it’s the company’s most expensive
running shoe. It’s also one of its most high-tech footware products. The 16 blades, strips of high-tech polymar that resemble the outstretched legs of a cheetah in full stride, are designed to work like individual springs. When
they bounce back, unlike the soles of other
claiming similar properties, Carnes says,
they a runner forward. Adidas is hoping that the distinctive blades become not only a staple of its
running but a stylish silhouette for everyday models as well.Read Full Story