words & images // Zac Dubasik & Nick DePaula
Just months after the adiZero Crazy Light pumped new energy into adidas Basketball comes the launch of the adiZero Rose 2. With inspiration from the Crazy Light, along with signature touches from the newly crowned MVP, the Rose 2 has emerged as the most anticipated signature shoe from adidas in many years. We sat down with designer Robbie Fuller to talk in-depth about Derrick, the inspiration and all the technical details that go into the brand's newest lightweight performance beast.
Nick DePaula: You of course designed the Rose models last year. What were some of the insights coming off of those that you really wanted to incorporate into the 2?
Robbie Fuller: I think you’ve seen pretty clearly that adidas Basketball has focused on being the lightest weight brand, and we set the tone with the Crazy Light. So, we knew that was a little bit of our agenda going into some of our meetings with Rose. Let’s make it faster, lets get him a little bit lighter, and all the while not sacrificing anything. Moving from the 1.5 to the Rose 2, we knew through some of the sculpting that you have to do with the PureMotion products that we would have to get tighter on some of the radiuses. So, that led us to this really sleek, low-profile tooling. And to build on top of that, we’ve innovated with the SPRINTWEB. We were able to transfer all those forces from your laces down to the platform, so we knew that was going to be a key component as well. But first and foremost, with adiZero, we start from zero. This is an adiZero product, but it’s an adiZero Rose product, so we really start with Rose.
NDP: Was Derrick open to the idea of moving away from PureMotion?
Robbie: Yeah, I don’t think it was an either / or. It was just like there were two things that were awesome. He liked PureMotion – it didn’t exist, and then it did. Same thing with “Light.” If we were telling him that it was the next best thing, and would improve his game, he was up for it.
NDP: Derrick likes a lot of designer sneakers off court. As his line has evolved, could you talk about incorporating some of those elements and Y-3 stylings into his shoes?
Robbie: Absolutely. He doesn’t just want a competitive advantage on court; he wants style. And in this case, I think it was intimidating style. When you pick up this shoe, I don’t want you to be comfortable with it. He was the same way. A lot of the silhouettes you see him wear, and the things he likes, they spark an emotion. So, that’s what we were going for with the Rose 2’s silhouette and some of the features, like the adjustable strap. It definitely gets people to love it or hate it, and that’s exactly where we want to be.
NDP: Did you take his ankle braces into consideration from the beginning as far as how the shoe would fit, and being adaptable for those?
Robbie: Absolutely. Like I said, we start with Rose. And through conversations, and seeing his style, and some of the things he was pushing us towards, we planned a trip to go over to Europe and do a little bit of a tour. We wanted to be as leading as possible. We wanted to get out of Portland and really expand what we were being influenced by. One of the key silhouettes we saw was in the new Y-3 range: the Kazuhiri. After seeing the presence that it had, I said, “I think we found something.” And then a light bulb goes off. Not only did it solve a style need, it also solved a functional need, because he wears an ankle brace, but a lot of people don’t. There’s always that adaption that needs to happen around the ankle. And this is perfect. Perfect. If you’ve got an ankle brace on, it stretches to fit. If you don’t have one, it stretches just enough to support your ankle without a brace. We were so excited, and it’s an awesome marriage of function and style.
Zac Dubasik: The tooling seems to have some similarities with the Crazy Light. Could you compare and contrast the two?
Robbie: They’re very similar. We know that it’s very efficient if we can use some of the learnings – especially working with so many D1 schools to nail the Crazy Light – and we didn’t want to just throw that all away. We wanted to bring that into the Rose line so that we could guarantee that we were giving him something that he wasn’t the first to test [laughs]. That’s a little too risky. From the bottom, you can see the asymmetrical curve throughout, which follows the basketball gait cycle – which is different from a running shoe for instance. One thing I would note, even if you look at the very first sample to the final version, there’s not a lot of difference. We weren’t wondering what we were going to do. We definitely had a strategic plan that we wanted to execute, and we used the learnings from the Crazy Light, and some of the other amazing lightweight products that we have in the adiZero range, in order to land on the Rose 2.
You can see the traction elements in the medial forefoot, and then the heel, kind of this rotational pattern that works its way around. Through studies of pressure and traction, this represents the best rubber-to-weight ratio in order to maximize traction. I think we are definitely proving that we have some of the most amazing traction. If you look at the Crazy Light, the rubber is slightly thinner on that one. That was just because our goal was to make the best playing indoor basketball shoe for the elite player, and the elite player plays in the NBA, and in the NBA they have indoor courts. With this one, you’ll see that the rubber has been scaled up just a little bit, in order to make it much more rugged. We believe Rose’s style of play is bigger than that. It’s for the NBA court, but it’s also for the street.
Zac: Foam wise, is the cushioning basically the same as the Crazy Light?
Robbie: On the Crazy Light, the Sprint Frame is stitched to the upper, which allows us to make the midsole a little bit lower to the ground, and you get more cushioning, because you are standing straight on the foam. In this case, we wanted to give him enhanced protection. And another difference between this one and the Crazy Light, is this has an enlarged Sprint Frame. If you put them next to each other, it’s massive compared to the last one. So, because of that, we weren’t able to construct it exactly the same as the Crazy Light. The midsole thicknesses through the midfoot and heel are a little bit higher than on the Crazy Light. But it’s the same premium sourcing foam, which is injection molded. And what you get from that is a very consistent rate.
NDP: When you did the Crazy Light, obviously there was the threshold of 10 ounces. Did you have anything in mind for this as far as its range of weight?
Robbie: For sure. As an adiZero product, it needs to lead in that lightweight area. Obviously, it’s not as light as the Crazy Light, because the goal of the Crazy Light was to be the lightest basketball shoe period. With this product, you kind of have to balance. You can’t just go in with a decision, because then you don’t have enough room for inspiration. And so, listening to some of his needs, with cushioning, with style and the full-grain leathers, with the unique closures and silhouettes, you have to blend those needs with the light weight benefit. One thing I would say is that they aren’t all the same weight. The ones that have the full-grain leather are maximizing the luxury side, so they are going to have a little more weight on them. But the ones that we’ve engineered with these really premium synthetics, they are as light as we could get this package.
NDP: Were there any certain textures or materials that he was really inspired by or drawn to?
Robbie: Yeah, the fissure leather. It’s also from the Icelandic volcano inspiration; it ties back together. And definitely matte and shine. That’s why you see the polish plus the matte tracking around the edge of the plate. And then, similar to the Rose 1 leather texture on the plate, we kind of brought that into the tool. It’s not just a matte to shine contrast, but also a flat to heavy texture contrast. All along the midsole, and even doing the outsole the same texture as the midsole, gives it that more sleek, low profile, more wearable presence.
Zac. One of the things that visually sticks out about the Rose 2 is the gap in the midfoot of the tooling. Could you talk about the purpose of that?
Robbie: As you build a product, you want to not have to tell the story. I’m not going to be at the shelf to let everyone know what the shoe is about. So whenever you design something, you need to work in the story and make it obvious, so there’s a moment of truth when someone picks it up and wonders what it’s about. We have the really clean toe with natural leather in some cases. The midfoot hole is primarily just an opportunity to lose a little bit of weight, because we’ve reinforced it with the Sprint Frame. And it highlights that this thing is a beautiful blend of luxury plus lightweight performance.
NDP: A few of these samples have a DR logo on the toe, but the final version doesn’t. Was adding his own logo a discussion at one point?
Robbie: In that case, it was more strategic about how fast we wanted to move towards his own logo. Those are big steps. In our mind right now, we have a strategy, and I’d say that decision was more to align with the strategy we have with Rose.
Zac: I can’t look at this shoe and not notice the pretty aggressive saying on the tongue tag. “All Flights Cancelled.” Could you talk about where that comes from?
Robbie: There’s a swag to adidas Basketball. There’s a swag to adidas. We make the best product period. And that’s our goal. With every shoe we make, with every commercial we make, with every athlete we sign, we want to let them know that they are signing with a winner. This tag line ties back into the story of the inspiration of some of the shoe, about everybody else’s dreams, championships and what they think they are going to do being cancelled. Because Derrick has already staked his claim on what’s going to happen over the next 10 years in the League. He’s that focused. He’s that determined. And likewise, we are too, to do everything we can to make that happen.
NDP: Could you talk about where the volcanic inspiration came from?
Robbie: We planned this trip, and went over to Europe. While we were there, we literally got stuck, because of the Icelandic volcano, so we were there for a week. I was walking through the hotel, and I saw the TV saying what the update was. I saw it, and it hit me. I don’t speak Dutch, but I saw “Cancelled, cancelled, cancelled,” and it had all the cities listed. That’s it. That’s the story. That’s where all this came from. Cancelled, cancelled, cancelled, and Chicago and Derrick Rose are cleared for takeoff. Knowing that I wanted to bring that splatter and volcanic texture to the shoe, that’s the reason that when you see the outsole, you see that splatter traction surface. I thought that also tied in too with the leather. There’s the Y-3 Kazuhiri. With the strap and silhouette, it definitely looks like we’ve taken inspiration from that to the masses.
NDP: As you were going through the sample stages, was Derrick pretty involved in weartesting?
Robbie: Definitely. I’d say we gave the shoe a two weeks head start, so we knew it was absolutely, completely stable. We knew it was going to be anyway, because we were building off a successful platform. But we’d get the shoe out to him, and he was wearing it in practice. Obviously, we’d want to keep it pretty hidden, and didn’t want it to show up on the web. So we have to ask him to wear it at the appropriate times, and he hides it well. He was a fan of the lower cut. I was a little bit concerned about that, and whether or not it would need to be raised. But he let us know that, for him, this was the appropriate solution.
NDP: Was including miCoach ever talked about for the Rose 2?
Robbie: We are definitely invested in miCoach. I think it’s awesome, and will really change the game, and change how people prepare for the game. It was brought up at a few of the meetings, but we thought it was a little too much of a risk, based on the timelines, to put it into the shoe. Like I said, every time we do something new, we thoroughly test it – weeks and weeks at high D1 levels. In this instance we felt that we had nailed the product. But stay tuned, because in the future, miCoach is going to be supported by not only basketball, but everything.
NDP: Last season, we saw the Rose 1 followed up by the 1.5. Is there going to be a similar structure for this season too?
Robbie: Yeah. What we are planning to execute for this coming season is that he'll launch with a shoe that has this really beautiful blend of luxury and performance. And then as he moves towards the back half of the season, the next chapter is “light luxe.” It’s amazing. I’m thoroughly happy with this [holds up the Rose 2] and where it’s landed. And you’ll see, when you get the shoes – not just in pictures, but in your hands – what we were able to accomplish on the next one. It just elevates his game and our game.
Zac: Could you just talk about all of the progress Derrick has made, and how much he and his game have helped your team at adidas?
Robbie: We’re just joyful. [laughs] It’s all I can really say. I’m so thankful to be a partner with him. He’s dedicated and determined to be not just an amazing player, but he’s a good guy. I’m sure you watched his MVP acceptance speech. Who can’t love Derrick Rose? He’s just real. And that’s what I’m most excited about. He’s focused. He’s determined. And I think he’s going to do amazing things for the League and the game. I think kids that are growing up now will look back, and he’s definitely going to be one of the guys that they want to mimic his style and his game. I’m real excited for the things he has coming, and I’m excited for the things that we’re going to be able to deliver with it.
Below: A look at early-stage sketch work for the adiZero Rose 2.
