adidas Y-3 Runner 4D Halo 'White'
Colorway: Core White/Cream White/Orange · Style code: HR2004 · Price: $241 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: adidas Y-3 Runner 4D 'Black' (FU9207) · adidas Y-3 Runner 4D IOW 'Black' (FZ4502) · adidas Y-3 Runner 4D Halo 'Black' (IE4853) · adidas Y-3 Runner 4D 'Black White' (AQ0357) · adidas Y-3 Runner 4D 'Solar Orange' (FU9208)
adidas began working with the California company Carbon in 2017 on a midsole that is grown rather than cut or injected. Digital Light Synthesis projects light through a pool of liquid resin, hardening it layer by layer into a lattice, then cures the finished part with heat. Because the lattice geometry is drawn in software, its stiffness can be varied across the sole (softer where the heel lands, firmer where the foot pushes off) in ways a block of foam cannot easily match.
Y-3 has used the technology repeatedly since, and the Runner 4D Halo is among the most exposed applications: the lattice is left entirely visible, with a Primeknit upper above it and a chord lacing system in place of conventional laces. Y-3 branding sits on the tongue and heel tab, and the Three Stripes are formed on the sides by the contrasting cord. It sells at 500 dollars, closer to the price of a piece of engineering than of a running shoe, and this white pair uses orange only at the lace ends.