An Exclusive Look at the adidas AlphaBOUNCE

Behind-the-scenes with adidas designer George Robusti.

Adidas has been making some serious moves in the footwear world as of late. Not only has Boost been a huge hit among runners, basketball players, and other athletes, but they've also partnered with A-list celebrities on projects like Kanye West's massively successful Yeezy line.

Fresh collabs and Boost cushioning aren’t the only thing they’ve got marinating. Adidas has just introduced a brand new franchise called the AlphaBOUNCE, which launches today and retails for $100. This new runner will, of course, include adidas’ patented Bounce technology, as well as introduce FORGEDMESH, an all-new tech upper.

The AlphaBOUNCE is touted as combining high functionality and support with a nontraditional (at least in terms of running shoes) aesthetic. That design provides versatility that allows you to wear them on the streets as well as the treadmill.

George Robusti, the brainchild of the AlphaBOUNCE, has worked for adidas on three different continents, designing runners and cleats for the world’s top athletes. Now, he has settled in adidas’ Portland headquarters, excitedly awaiting the release of the AlphaBOUNCE.

We briefly caught up with Robusti to discuss the story behind the design of the AlphaBOUNCE, as well as its cool specs, unconventional aesthetic, and customization potential.

This is a totally new franchise. What is some of the new adidas tech that is going to be debuting in the shoe?
The key one would be the FORGEDMESH upper. We’ve never done that before, and that’s the newest sort of innovation. It’s enabled this concept to come to life, and that’s because obviously the kind of delineated parts and pieces are simplifying and building the functionality to the one with layered mesh and a main upper, so that’s the key driver of it all. And then the full-length Bounce foam; we’ve had Bounce foam in our arsenal for a while. With this project, we’ve also redesigned it and re-skinned it to function even better and also frame up this concept.

What were some of biggest challenges of this project?
The biggest challenge was trying to capture and generate the experience of it being so comfortable and still supportive and expansive; to add expansion right in the key zones and make sure the experience was just enriched by that. The second set of challenges was developing the upper because there were so many unknowns. The process is new, and just trying to engineer the mesh to work for us was the biggest challenge.

I know that making the shoe seamless so you’re in the mental zone is obviously important. And I think part of that too is this notion that when you look good, you sort of perform better. Was that something that came up in the research as well?
Yeah, we’re always aware of that aspect, about striving to create this holistic synergy. And knowing that it wasn’t a conventional technical runner, [we had] the opportunity to allow the process and the technology and the innovation to look fresh and work in the right way. There was no limitation to how it could look, and I think that’s a built-in benefit to that whole process because we’ve got a shoe that functions highly but it breaks the norms of the conventional running shoe aesthetics. You’re looking great, therefore it can transition way beyond the run. That was a key goal.

One thing I also noticed visually is the branding is very subtle. Was that sort of by design or is that something that just happened?
It was sort of by design on a functional level, and then also just on an aesthetic level. We wanted the fusing, the sort of forging to breathe, to really function. So I don’t want to go placing branding there. And of course, you can achieve that in different ways, but I wanted the forged ribs to really just behave and be left uncluttered. And it was such a fresh innovation and visual that we wanted to celebrate that, so we kept the branding very low-key, but still have the Three Stripes on the tongue and the badge of sport on the heel.

Do you see an opportunity, like how mi ZX flux was an opportunity, where you can customize the uppers?
Feasibly, it can play into that. I mean the great focus was more about the experience, but the canvas is there to be evolved, absolutely.

So it has potential to be very customizable?
Absolutely.

This is a new franchise for you guys. How is this shoe different from other running silhouettes. Are there any similarities with the Ultra Boost?
For us, this is definitely a new franchise. We treat it as a franchise, build it as a franchise, and start with a shoe to launch it. I guess striving for the sort of out-of-body experience was a key driver, and so that messaging and that intent is different to the Ultra Boost and other shoes. What they do, though, have in common is the conforming fit, and mostly, the Ultra Boost has a fantastic knitted upper as well as expansion in the key zones. And that’s generally an ideal scenario for all great running product, so we were able to achieve similar things in the forefoot with that. And then obviously the Alpha Bounce is, I would say, more reduced because technically there’s no midfoot panel, etc. It’s all embedded into the forging.

That makes sense. Do you use the Amaris (the scanning technology used for the AlphaBounce) for the Ultra Boost as well?
Yeah, we used it to sort of test or validate the forefoot expansion mainly. I would say that the Alpha was an attempt at taking it almost a stage further, from heel to toe with no delineation between components. And with the Ultra, it’s a fantastic shoe. It’s still made of components complimenting it.

And this is more of a seamless sort of idea?
Yes, exactly.