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Adidas Uses Data-Driven Modeling Of James Harden’s Feet For His New Shoe

Adidas recently unveiled its innovative Harden Vol 2 sneakers — the latest installment of Houston Rockets superstar James Harden’s line — using advanced generative software to reinforce the shoe according to his own patterns of footwork and direction changes.

This shoe is adidas’ first basketball sneaker with Forgefiber and full-length Boost foam. The Forgefiber relies on yarn coated with TPU (Thermoplastic polyurethane) “to reinforce Harden’s signature jab step, step-back and Eurostep,” according to the press release.

“It’s tailored to my game and quick change of direction,” Harden said. “Being different in the sense of my movements – the step-backs and Eurosteps and quick crossovers – you got to have a shoe that’s designed to move whenever you move . . . and not a second later.”

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Harden first wore the new shoes in the Rockets’ Feb. 14 game against the Sacramento Kings before the product became globally available to the public two days later. The first edition launched in December 2016 at the completion of an extensive three-month, tech-infused campaign dubbed Project Harden.

Adidas took a data-driven approach to creating the footwear, modeling Harden’s own pressure points and reinforcing the shoe accordingly.

Lead designer Rashad Williams, who previously worked as head of men’s basketball at Under Armour where he helped develop Stephen Curry’s signature shoes, told Sneaker News, “He wanted to make sure he had a more holistic fit — we call it a 360-degree fit. He wanted great traction, great midsole cushioning and great cushion in the upper. The way we got after it is with a new data-informed traction pattern. This is all based off of pressure mapping of James foot. The pods on the bottom are all the same fit but not the same size, and as you get to the smaller clusters, that is where James puts the most pressure on his foot.”

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