The Adidas Shoes Shaped To The Needs Of Women Athletes

The Adidas Shoes Shaped To The Needs Of Women Athletes:

Most basketball shoes are created to accommodate the structure of the male foot only, while neglecting the unique features of the female foot. The nuances of the female foot result in a different pressure loading, slimmer toe box shape, higher arches, and narrower heels.

Without focusing on these details in the design phase, female athletes often compromise their needs and settle for basketball shoes that are too stiff or lack support. So, adidas took this issue as a challenge to create one of the best women’s basketball shoes on the market: The adidas Exhibit Select.

Research And Testing:

 

This project tipped off at the W Summit in Los Angeles – an annual event adidas holds with all female partners including creators, designers, college athletes and WNBA athletes, to gain their insight into what product fits them best, how they prefer to work with adidas and more. 

The adidas design and development teams scanned thousands of female athletes’ feet and precisely examined the data to determine the best shape and fit. The research findings enabled the team to create an all-new women-specific last, which is the form the shoe is built upon.

Then, they worked with the athletes to test and refine their design. They gathered critical insights to ensure the tech, look and feel were dialed to the specific needs of athletes to perform at the highest level.  

Through this extended research, data collection and athlete-testing, the team created the adidas Exhibit Select, which features optimizations in three areas: the last, upper and traction.