Adidas NMD R1 PK 'Firestarter'
Colorway: Black/Grey/Red · Style code: BA7480 · Release date: June 2016 · Price: $744 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Adidas NMD_R1 PK 'Gold' (S42131) · adidas NMD_R1 PK 'Oreo' (BY1911) · adidas NMD_R1 PK 'Energy Aqua' (B43523) · Adidas NMD_R1 STLT PK 'Yellow' (AQ0934) · adidas NMD_R1 PK 'Linen Khaki' (BY1912)
This is an early one. It arrived in June 2016, roughly half a year after the silhouette launched, when the Primeknit build was still the default rather than one option among several. The upper grades from black into charcoal through the weave itself, which is what Primeknit does well: the colour change is built into the knit rather than printed or panelled on top of it.
Red is the accent and it is placed low and at the ends, on the pull tabs and on the outsole, so the shoe looks close to monochrome in profile and shows its second colour once it moves. That placement is where the Firestarter name comes from. In between, the full-length Boost midsole is white, the brightest element on the shoe and the one that separates upper from ground. It retailed at $150 in 2016, above the mesh pairs that would follow and in line with what Primeknit construction cost across the line at the time.