Adidas 4D Runner 1.0 'Core Black'
Colorway: Core Black/Cloud White/Gold Metallic · Style code: EG6247 · Release date: April 2, 2020 · Price: $298 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: adidas 4D Runner 1.0 'Footwear White' (EG6264)
adidas spent years trying to make a three-dimensionally printed midsole that could be manufactured rather than merely demonstrated. The route it found was Continuous Liquid Interface Production, the process Joseph DeSimone and his co-inventors patented in 2014 and Carbon later commercialised as Digital Light Synthesis. Instead of stacking layers, CLIP pulls a finished part upward out of a pool of liquid photopolymer, curing it with ultraviolet light projected through an oxygen-permeable window that keeps a thin uncured film between resin and glass. DeSimone demonstrated it publicly at a 2015 talk by growing an intricate object in under ten minutes, and adidas was among the investors that funded Carbon over the following two years.
The Futurecraft 4D was the first shoe to carry that sole. The 4D Runner 1.0 is what came after it: the same open lattice, tuned and priced for a wider audience rather than a numbered drop. Because the geometry itself carries the cushioning, stiffness can be varied region by region within a single moulded piece, without adding parts underfoot.
This version sets a knit upper over that sole in dark tones with a dotted all-over print, floating white stripes and metallic gold branding at the tongue and lateral heel. It carried a $220 price and released on 2 April 2020.