adidas UltraBoost Reflective 'Crystal White'
Colorway: Footwear White/Crystal White/Grey Three · Style code: EG8104 · Release date: November 5, 2019 · Price: $113 · Availability: Available now
In daylight this is a quiet white and grey shoe. Under headlights it is not. Reflective yarn worked into the upper bounces light straight back toward its source, which is why the pair changes character entirely between a shop floor and a night street. Footwear White and Crystal White set the base, two whites of slightly different temperature, and Grey Three provides the shading that keeps the panels legible.
Reflectivity is a running feature before it is a styling one, since anyone out after dark on a road needs drivers to see them. adidas has run it across the UltraBoost line repeatedly, usually on pale colourways where the treatment hides best by day. This pair went out on November 5, 2019 at $195, between the base and premium tiers for the silhouette that year, and kept the standard laced midfoot cage and full-length Boost midsole underneath.