adidas Announce The adiFOM Q

On Tuesday, adidas took to Twitter to officially announce their latest project, the ‘adiFOM Q’ after leaked images of the silhouette were released in December 2021.

The new adiFOM takes its inspiration from the adidas ‘Quake’ released in 2001, a hiking sneaker with a design reminiscent of the Nike Air Max 96 from 1996 that featured leather stripes down the medial and lateral sides. Utilising a rugged outsole, the original featured a prominently mesh upper in minimal colourways and hints of detail on the eyelets and midsole details. 

While the archival 2001 model has been lost in the sands of time, adidas are reinventing the silhouette for 2022 in line with current trends which have seen Crocs and Clogs gain a huge amount of traction thanks to the likes of Salehe Bembury reinventing the infamous staple. 

 

Despite the 2022 adiFOM Q supposedly being a ‘modern retro’ of the 2001 Quakes, they don’t look too similar upon first inspection. The main reason for this difference is the new materials with the adiFOM (as the name suggests) being made out of an entirely foam upper, similar to what we have seen from Kanye West’s YEEZY Foam Runner. 

However, unlike the Foam Runner, adiFOM appears to include a sock-like lining inside the punctured upper that hugs the foot to provide additional support. While there are also laces on the adiFOM, that’s where the details end, leading to further speculation as to the inspiration behind the design from fans.

Earlier in the year, adidas ran into a similar situation following the unveiling of their 2022 version of the ‘Adilette’, the Three Stripes’ classic slider silhouette with Kanye West taking to his Instagram to call them out, saying:

“I’m not standing for this blatant copying no more…this shoe is a fake YEEZY made by adidas themselves”. 

The post has since been deleted. However, images of the adiFOM have sparked further discussion online as to whether adidas have taken ques from Ye, and whether they should be able to do so with adidas posting a video on Tik Tok of the new silhouette with a sound bite saying “Am I the drama, I don’t think I’m the drama”, possibly taking subtle jabs at West. 

With the continual rise of Crocs, Clogs and Foams including the recent Air Jordan System.23 as well as the Merrel 1TRL gaining significant popularity, it seems that the trend isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

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