adidas Originals NMD V3 finally fixes a five-year problem, but will that change? – ARCH-USA

In 2015, adidas Originals launched the pioneering NMD silhouette – drawing inspiration from the brand’s inimitable archives to create a shoe that turned the sneaker world upside down at the time.

Source: adidas Originals presents the NMD V3 silhouette

In 2017, I wrote a prediction article about the growth of adidas. The Trefoil had finally figured out the Swoosh problem and for almost 3 years they had Nike in a blender. Much of adidas’ growth has been wrongly attributed to Kanye West. The adidas launch of UltraBoost and NMD introduced two futuristic models with cushioning technology that fired the imagination of fans. BOOST did just that, it propelled adidas into a different arena. The company’s growth has been the perfect blend of design and performance. I wrote down my prediction because I could see a problem on the horizon for adidas. Nike had fixed their issues which compounded what I saw in the maps for adi. My article was about design fatigue.

adidas Originals Black Friday EQT Support Cushion / Support ADV / Support 93/17 | A silhouette problem

The following year, after writing the Silhouette Problem post, and since 2018, adidas products have consistently stood out with very few sales on any general release sneakers. I took pictures of what I call bloody walls at retailers: markdowns with red tags. I’ve written articles with data to show the resale problem (which for me has always mirrored retail). In an article I delivered this post:

Revisiting a discussion: will the adidas NMD lose resale like the Nike Roshe Run? May 2017 | 2019 update

In this post I wrote:

I’ll give you a chart from 2018. adidas had released the Yeezy Zebra and Kanye’s kicking momentum no longer lifted the boat for the Three Stripes. The brand dropped a Primeknit NMD that looked a lot like the Zebra and the shoe fell flat and ended up sitting on shelves until recently. I have always picked up the model from outlets for 49.99. The shoe was named Sashiko Pack. The price was 180.

As the adidas brand heat slipped, I bought the model for 34.99. In other words, this model appears in promo for three years, which is incredible and also a problem because old NMDs hinder the sale of new versions.

The arrival of the NMD V3

I’ve documented NMD since its release and can probably discuss trends as well as anyone in the industry. I talked about how the NMD S1 could bring adidas back to resale, which is an indicator of the brand’s warmth. The problem is that adidas didn’t completely unleash the S1 in massive numbers. Every drop has been limited. This is understandable as the NMD_R1 revision disrupted adidas’ momentum early on with versions of the shoe that were overpriced and lacked critical elements of the original that still worked well. adidas disrupted its own growth and hasn’t been able to adapt since. This V3 edition is interesting and takes me back to the original discussion at the beginning of this post, design.

Elements of the S1 show up in the new “block” midsole design that made the original R1 so popular, but it’s the toebox that strikes me immediately. adidas got rid of the empty, fully knitted toebox. In the post above, I said that figure fatigue is at the heart of adidas’ problems. This NMD retains a familiar shape, but the addition of reflective elements and a fused overlay to the V3 gives it a traditional element that will allow for unique color blocking. The side panel and toe also allow adidas to use different materials as new colors are released. Boost is now old technology. The S1 uses caged Boost to modernize the technology. The V3 uses the new molded blocks which partially cage and give the midsole a slightly different look, but which may ultimately prevent this model from returning to GR resale status.

What will be the answer to V3? Currently, the sneaker does not appear on major sneaker blogs nor is it discussed on Twitter. The obvious reason for this is the recent SNKRS restocks and Yeezy Day which sent sneaker culture into a frenzy… Again, anything trendy sends sneaker culture into a frenzy. But isn’t that what adidas needs? Don’t they need a sneaker culture that says “fire” or “must cop”? It doesn’t help that adidas is “launching” the V3 on August 16th, I’m writing this on August 12th, and the all-white version is already tagged: adidas NMD_V3 Shoes – White | men’s lifestyle | adidas US. It doesn’t help that the retail price is 160 at a time when even the Air Jordan 1 isn’t selling at 170 and 180. The market dictates the price of the sneakers and drops the NMD in all its flavors at 160 is akin to the Primeknit NMD introduction debacle in 2017 at 180. The result was the table above where retailers marked the shoe buy one get one for a dollar. If the “rollout” is for the 16th and multiple colors are already available and reduced to 128 a pair, wouldn’t adidas benefit from a price adjustment to 130 without posting bloody tags on their own site? The Three Stripes fixed an issue, but didn’t fix some marketing and publishing strategies, which is understandable due to supply chain issues, but the silhouette fatigue fix is ​​only a first step in reclaiming the community.