Adidas Debuts Futurenatural Tech On Harden Vol. 5 Basketball Sneaker

Fit. Whether basketball players hitting the blacktop all day or for 48 minutes during a NBA game, Rashad Williams, senior director of footwear at Adidas Basketball, is always asking, “How can we make a better fitting shoe, especially when thinking globally?” His answer: Futurenatural, a one-piece upper and outsole designed specifically for the movements of basketball. 

Futurenatural will debut on the upcoming Harden Vol. 5 signature basketball sneaker for NBA star James Harden, bringing with it the most advanced fit the brand has created. By scanning over 1,000 feet of basketball consumers — from NBA to recreational players — Adidas used the research to create a new approach to the shoe’s last, building a foundational piece in the footwear design process the “closest to the human foot you could possibly have in our product range.” 

Williams says the last is akin to the chassis of the car. “We want to make sure everything is right,” he says. “Then we can put on the paint, put on the chrome wheels and the wood grain, the accoutrement and details.” 

To get that shoe as close to the foot as possible in a new fit experience, the anatomical design from the updated last pairs with a fresh way of constructing shoes for Adidas Basketball that builds a one-piece solid woven upper from the top to bottom. Normally the upper and bottom are glued together, but in the new Futurenatural process, the textured upper is forged with the outsole using 360-degree extreme pressure at high temperatures. The seamless upper and outsole then gives athletes full ground contact, Adidas says, for a natural feel while offering freedom of movement. 

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The one-piece upper on the Harden Vol. 5 combines with a full-length Boost cushioning insert — the first use of Boost in this way for Adidas Basketball — with the brand’s Lightstrike responsive foam. “It should feel great,” Williams says. The manufacturing process of Futurenatural allows Adidas to adopt other technologies into the sneaker, and for the Harden Vol. 5 they paired the Boost with Lightstrike for the “natural comfort of Boost that everybody loves and the Lightstrike as a carrier that is known to be a lot more responsive on the court.” Williams says combining the fit and how the upper hugs the foot with the cushioning should provide athletes a “different sensation.” 

The anatomical last allows designers the ability to sculpt the midsole all the way under the outsole, molding where they traditionally wouldn’t have that ability, further enhancing fit and freedom of movement. 

The Futurenatural technology will debut with Harden, a pinnacle partner with Adidas. Williams says working with Harden has been tremendous, as he tests every shoe thoroughly. “If he hasn’t tested that pair, he won’t wear it in a game,” Williams says. “It gives us confidence the product will perform at the highest level.” 

And by debuting Futurenatural on the Harden signature model, it allows Adidas to leverage what they’ve learned about Harden’s need for ankle flexibility with lockdown solutions elsewhere on the shoe. “I think one thing we are learning is if you have a technology that is more dynamic, it works with more than linear sports,” Williams says about debuting Futurenatural in basketball. “When you take a sport like basketball and put technology on someone like James Harden, who is super dynamic in the way he plays and revolutionary on how he scores on the perimeter because of his footwork, you create technology that can withstand that.”

The upper design also offers a blank, clean canvas for aesthetics. Expect a unique design across the Harden Vol. 5 release schedule, which starts in early 2021, tapping into the NBA star’s sense of style. “He wants to express himself on the court,” Williams says. “We want to make this shoe the closest to James Harden as possible. That is why you’ll see different colors, overlays and details in some of the colorways that come out.” 

Futurenatural may debut on the Harden Vol. 5, but Williams doesn’t see it stopping there. With the technology’s ability to serve as a platform for cushioning and innovation, both present and future “we see Futurenatural as being the future of basketball for us,” he says, “being a big part.”