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There’s a visual and circular wholeness represented within the adidas Originals forthcoming Consortium collection. It almost acts as a marble in a pinball machine, bouncing back and forth touching all points of access. Aiming to convey a historic missive surrounding the evolution of sneaker production, adidas both looks to its past heritage and the future of footwear to revitalize its classic ZX series.
Dating back to the 1980s when adidas first announced its ZX collective, much of its focus centered around standing firm at the forefront of athletic footwear design. Pressing that theme into modern-day, the triumphant release of adidas’ ZX4000 4D is a shining example of a mission completed.
Considered the pinnacle of sneaker design at the moment, 4D technology — as seen through the Futurecraft tooling — crystalizes production through the lens of automation. The ZX4000 4D was almost entirely crafted in the brand’s automated factory in Ansbach, Germany. Widely considered the most automated (sneaker) factory in the world, manufacturing in this revolutionary space takes place with virtually no heat, light, or human manpower.
That sneaker’s counterpart pings back to the opposite end of the spectrum manufactured almost entirely by hand in one of adidas’ Asian factories. The ZX500 RM connects that aforementioned fullness by honoring the origins of sneaker design and the ZX series.
A combination of old school mesh, nubuck, and premium leather harkens back to foundational adidas design language and the materials that stand as a case study for what quality sneakers should adhere to. A modernizing process is represented through full-length Boost cushioning.
The lengthy distance between hand production techniques and the efficiency of automation speaks not only to the ground we’ve covered over the decades but the importance of knowing that not everything needs to be done one way or the other. Automated sneakers are the future. We all know that to be true. Yet there’s still much to be said about the delicacy and subtle distinction that comes with work sculpted by a human hand.
Both the adidas ZX4000 4D and the adidas ZX500 RM will release on March 9 at adidas.com/Originals and select Consortium retailers.
