adidas Tubular Doom Primeknit Men's Sneakers

Product Information

In 1990, adidas designers began creating prototypes inspired by car tyres that featured inflatable rubber air bags with valves.

In less than two years, the prototypes evolved into incredibly complex pieces of engineering – then in ’92 adidas took the unusual step of releasing a beta version of the Radical to the public. It wasn’t so much the technical features that got him thinking, but more the concept that the designers had been working with – the prototypes and the thought processes they illustrated. In 2013 the market wasn’t oriented around technical silhouettes like it had been in the mid-90s, so Galway decided to strip back the Tubular to its core. It appeared on the Y-3 Qasa in early 2013, before appearing in the adidas mainline just over a year later.The design he came up with was comprised of two densities of moulded EVA, in a tube-like shape that was wrapped around the sole – combining targeted support and cushioning. A discovery deep within the adidas archive had motivated adidas Originals’ VP of global design Nic Galway to revive the Tubular name, as well as the ambitious design ideals that kicked off the project almost three decades earlier. The concept behind the design was born from the ongoing quest for superior cushioning that could give athletes that little extra kick that might shave a fraction of a second from their best times.

But all was not lost, two decades after its disappearance designer Nic Galway was wandering the archives at Three Stripe central when he happened upon the OG Radical. Instead of focussing on the engineering, the sole reimagined the concept with new methods of production.It was the only model of Radical to ever be made available and was limited to 500 pairs – it seems as though adidas were testing the waters to see how the public would react. From its roots as a DIY-style fanzine to today’s global coverage, its pages have documented every colab, custom, limited edition, retro reissue, Quickstrike, Hyperstrike and Tier Zero sneaker released over the last two decades. They were cobbled together using parts from the Equipment series, with a Torsionbar and some industrial looking connectors. It was made in a way that wasn’t previously possible, but stood up to the vision that the designers had in the 90s.

It’s up to them to integrate cutting edge know-how into new styles while staying one step ahead of present trends. Material Matters is our weekly tech section, where we take a peek behind the mesh curtain and break down the building blocks of the industry. Designers worked on one more prototype, an advanced version of the Tubular 4, but were forced to concede to the fact that the technology they needed to manufacture the shoe didn’t exist yet. The first design featured an upper based on the popular ZX range, which allowed an introduction of new ideas to be accessible via familiarity. It was offered as the lightweight option, without the inbuilt mechanics, but only had two adjustable air bags in the heel and a forefoot that was cushioned with EVA foam.The futuristic concept was also known as the X-29 and had four separate air chambers on the sole that could be adjusted using an integrated pump – they even had a digital LCD pressure gauge. There’s never been a one-to-one retro but the influence is clear, for example the Tubular 2 has heavily influenced the Tubular 93. Originals released the Adidas Tubular in 1993, however it was deemed too ahead of its time with its futuristic aesthetic and shelved after only two years. The mind of a sneaker designer exists in a temporal limbo – creating for the future with constant reference to the past. The design process had focussed on the overall form of the shoe, with materials chosen to fit the sculpted last and contribute to a dynamic look.