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words // Nick DePaula
images // Ray Polanco Jr.
For longtime fans of Adidas Basketball, the Feet You Wear series of silhouettes that was first launched during the mid-1990s and worn by Kobe Bryant often serves as a defining era for the brand, even all these years later.
The wavy and quirky designs were rooted in performance and based on the needs of the sport, but took on a life beyond the game as the rounded styling and flowing lines extended off the court. Taking inspiration from some of the earliest beloved Feet You Wear models, Adidas is reimagining the future of their hoops category with a new modernized performance take on FYW, this time upgrading tech for today’s time with the company’s bar-raising Boost cushioning.
It’s simply dubbed the Crazy BYW X, as in Boost You Wear.
First debuted by both Nick Young and Brandon Ingram just weeks ago at the Staples Center, the model is also expected to hit the hardwood throughout this month on the feet of recently re-signed All-Star point guard John Wall.
“The future of Adidas is on a different level with these,” said Swaggy P.
The same size as each aforementioned player, I was able to get my hands on a pair early, quickly throwing them on to see just how updated and improved the silhouette and tech are. As a huge, huge fan of nearly every last Feet You Wear model — I still pull out my original pairs of the Top Ten 2010, KB8, AW8 and KB8 III — I was most curious to see how the BYW X’s Boost platform felt.
While the original FYW models all featured great court feel, support and balance, they were admittedly a bit firm. The BYW X features a full-length Boost platform — there’s a healthy helping of Boost throughout each pod of the outsole. Right out the box, that familiar Boost softness fires through the heel, and feels responsive in the forefoot as well, with support on the court coming by way of a rubberized forefoot wrap.
The other impressive element that quickly stood out is how well sloped and contoured the upper’s mesh and knit construction fit. The silhouette and fit is what I had hoped for from the Crazy Explosive models. My favorite part from a design standpoint would be the toe down, which incorporates a veering accent line circling around the toe cap.
Stay tuned for more features, first impressions and looks of the brand’s new Boost You Wear franchise, and check out the upcoming Adidas BYW X in detail below, shot on-foot in Los Angeles by Ray Polanco Jr.
Be sure to also check out our on-foot look at the Crazy BYW from Adidas Originals, as well as our comprehensive Feet You Wear retrospective.
