adidas ACE y X creation process

The development process of a football boot is much more complex than what we imagine. 4 years of work make for big things. The designers team in adidas tell us about the process of the new collection Be the Difference.

26 June 2015 - Written by Fernando Ortiz Castillo

The development process of a football boot is far more complex than what we can imagine. That's why I think it's not too nice that, when a boot is launched after more than 4 years of hard woork, a designer has to read a coment like: It looks ugly. Just because that person has only seen an image. I get that aesthetics are an important part of a boot but behind that boot there is a brutal development process. Adidas has brought together the designers of the current collection to explain the details of the evolution of each silo.

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Adidas Product Managers of the collection #BeTheDifference

adidas ACE 15 Aubrey Dolan

In the development of the adidas ACE 15 we had a clear vision:our goal was to create a boot that would be completely different to all our past football boots. This new boot would have to revolucionize the players performance at all the levels. The global improvement is important in the current modern game and adds an advantaje to a player over another player. From the first moment we focused on placing an outsole that would provide the player with a new level of control with the ball in all movements. The outsole is no longer only the way to hold to the ground, it's part of the touch players need to feel with the ball, like what happens in futsal or street football. to have the option of controling the ball with the outsole will allow the player to express his football.

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adidas ACE 15 prototype

The outsole is responsible of producing burns on the feet of the players on a daily use every week. This will not happen when the adidas ACE 15 players have this boot on their feet. The first test prooved that the smaller extra studs in the front portion of the foot improved the performance. and that's when everythin started to move around the improvement of the outsole system. They made tons of tests to find the best combination of studs that would be the perfect combination of traction and touch with the ball. The result was the GROUND CONTROL system you can find in the final adidas ACE 15.


adidas ACE 15 Development 3_0.jpg
adidas ACE 15 prototype

The upper of a football boot is always the part that will creat debate in the development team. We want to improve the performance of player which are in touch with the ball all the time. But at the same time the boot must be breathable and flexible enough to provide a comfortable fit. In the first adidas ACE 15 project we included a base mesh material underneatha 3D texture material with different layers in the areas in contact with the ball.

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Different sketches used during the development proves of the ACE 15

The 3D material in the upper was designed with a foam base PU layer with the NSG technology that adds grip when you are playing in wet and dry contidions.

adidas X 15 Marco Muller

The goal that adidas had here was to create a boot for the unpredictable players. The main idea of the design of the adidas X 15 was to create a boot that would allow the player to move by his own intincs with no restictions with all his explosive cuts and turns.


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adidas X 15 prototypes

We had it clear from the fist moment when we decided to include the TechFit element in the design. After using it on the clothing football gear for more than 10 years, we have learned a lor about how the compression works in the foot with the prototypes and limited edition designs. So from there all we needed to do was to improve the fit provided by the TechFit element.


adidas X 15 Development 3_0.jpg
adidas X 15 prototype

Whant to know more about the important details in the creation of the adidas X15? For example the external support system that allows the outsole and upper to hold the laces and lock the foot perfectely like no other boot in the market does. They have also payed attention the traction and the fit in the heels to avoid it from sliping around.

adidas X 15 Development 1_0.jpg
Different sketches used during the development proves of the adidas X 15

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