Brand: Y-3
Model: Runner 4D Halo
Release Date: Available now
Buy: Highsnobiety shop
Editor’s Notes: Yohji Yamomoto is the OG when it comes to combining sportswear with high fashion, predating the likes of Gucci, Prada, and Balenciaga in collaborating with German label adidas.
As the Japanese designer's Y-3 sublabel celebrates its 20th anniversary, it has presented another masterclass in introducing experimental forms to technology-driven sportswear: the Runner 4D Halo.
4D printing is what adidas is betting on to be the future of sneakers. The nerdy information is that it uses Carbon Digital Light Synthesis technology to create complex geometric lattice sole structures, but effectively all you need to know is that is at the cutting edge of sneaker technology for running shoes — and that Yamomoto has found a way to perfectly blend it into his world of avant-garde fashion.
This is far from being the first time Y-3 or adidas has used this technology for a casual sneaker but with this design, it feels like Yamamoto has perfected the recipe to bringing the tooling that will define the next generation of sneakers to fashion. The way he has done this is by creating his most experimental 4-D printed shoe to date.
A complex web that makes up the lattice sole structure is left exposed on this shoe and the gaps which it leaves hold threads that spill out from the upper, dangling beyond the shoe onto the floor. A master of deconstruction, we have seen the designer leave seams exposed with trailing threads countless times in his clothing and this design brings that idea into the world of sneakers.
The threads that hang from the shoe are also interwoven into the upper, forming adidas' infamous three stripes on the sides of the sneakers. Another of adidas' trademark innovations, the upper is made from Primeknit mesh that leaves large parts of the sneaker see-through.
You can shop the Y-3 Runner 4D Halo using the link above on the Highsnobiety shop, and check out more from the Y-3 SS22 collection below.
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