Adidas To Start Selling Futurecraft 4D Shoe With 3D-printed Sole This Year

Adidas AG said it will make 5,000 pairs of its new Futurecraft 4D shoes, made with a 3D-printed midsole, by fall/winter 2017. The midsole is designed using years of running data and through a partnership with Carbon. The Silicon Valley tech company has created a process, Digital Light Synthesis, that uses light, oxygen and liquid resins to create the sole. In addition, the process overcomes the hurdles of traditional 3D printing like speed, scale and poor surface quality. Adidas plans to sell more than 100,000 pairs by the end of 2018. Adidas shares are down 0.4% in Wednesday trading, and up 63.3% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 11.5% for the last 12 months.