Adidas and Rick Owens Revive the Wild Springblade Runner
By @sharedot · · 6 pages
- Fitness
- Sneakers
- Adidas
- Rick Owens
Adidas has revived its blade-cushioned 2013 Springblade with designer Rick Owens, adding an avant-garde boot at $850.
The blade shoe returns, remade for fashion
Adidas has brought back the Springblade, its most unconventional running shoe, more than a decade after the original debuted.
First introduced in 2013 after six years of development, the runner abandoned traditional foam cushioning entirely, instead using individually tuned polymer blades angled to compress and rebound as you run, with the goal of creating a spring-like sensation underfoot that propels you forward.
The new rendition comes courtesy of designer Rick Owens, and both Gear Patrol and Yahoo report it looks noticeably different from the 2013 originals.
Owens reworked the silhouette with textile uppers in either black or bone white, each paired with a textile Three Stripes logo in off-white, trading the techy look of the originals for a deliberately simplified palette.
From tech runner to streetwear statement
What makes this revival surprising is how far the shoe has drifted from its performance roots.
In 2013 the Springblade was a purpose-built, futuristic tech runner; the Rick Owens version reads instead as a streetwear piece with a matching leather toe cap in black or off-white giving it a fashion-forward touch.
The signature bladed foundation remains underfoot, which gives these otherwise low-profile sneakers a towering appearance.
The collaboration goes even further with the bizarre Springblade Boot, which pushes the bladed technology into avant-garde territory with a slouchy, gathered upper — a look far removed from anything a running store would stock.
For running-adjacent sneaker fans, it is a striking reversal: a once-polarizing performance experiment now sold as designer footwear.
Price and availability
Both outlets report the Adidas x Rick Owens Springblade Running Shoes are available now from Adidas's website, priced at $590. Collectors willing to spend more can pick up the Springblade Boot at $850.
The two colorways on offer — a muted bone white and a black-and-white option — keep the range tight, consistent with Owens's pared-back approach.
Why runners should pay attention
The stakes here are less about performance than about how running innovation gets remembered and repurposed.
The Springblade was one of Adidas's boldest cushioning bets, and its return through a designer lens shows brands mining their own experimental archives for fashion cachet rather than refining the original concept.
According to Gear Patrol, the revival is aimed at a new generation that never saw the sci-fi-looking originals, while the slouchy boot version signals the technology is being treated as a design motif, not a running platform.