ADIDAS LA PALMER
Description
Working under time pressure, the short project format resulted in rapid decision making and me practicing my visualization skills in digital drawing. This urban mobility and hiking shoe is meant to improve the mobility and comfort of active citizens of Los Angeles during the heat in context of the Olympic Games in 2028.
Project by Elias Rølvåg Horsgård
Collaborator
Adidas
Year
2023
Duration
4 weeks
Type
Educational
The design:
The Adidas LA Palmer shoe is an urban hiking and mobility sneaker with good cushioning and a breathable upper to prevent blisters in the heat of LA summers. The breathable AND flexible material on the upper allows for good ventilation and tight fit, both preventing blisters and sweaty feet. Since the upper breathing material is flexible, there is no tongue on this shoe, but for extra good fit, you can adjust the tightness with the laces that is well integrated in the design.
The stiffer sides of the upper creates stability and support the foot, and is designed to resemble the hills surrounding LA. This will make everyday activities and easy hikes safer and more comfortable.
Background:
There are little plans for improving Los Angels’ poor public transport system for the Olympic Games in 2028, leaving youths and adults with limited access to the events, and sports in general. In addition is the urbanization predicted to continue to grow towards 2050, and mega trends such as bike-booms, 15-minute cities and urban hiking will also gain popularity.
This creates a need for a good everyday sneaker that gets the active citizens and visitors for the games around LA in a comfortable and stylish way.
CMF:
The shoe is adaptable to a variety of colors. The chosen color lineup consists of a beige, a black, a blue and a turquoise shoe. The beige, the flagship color, got its palette from the desert around LA. The black shoe keeps the white midsole, which keeps the earth tones in the shoe. The blue shoe offers a cooler palette. And the turquoise shoe is based on the color palette of some existing shoes in the collaborator's lineup.
Keeping the midsole the same color on all variants would be beneficial thinking about costs.
However, thinking that LA28 is in 5 years, the color trends are likely to change. But this shows that the shoe is adaptable to a wide range of color scheme.
