Adidas Reveals Laceless Football Boot
After adidas revealed last year that laceless football boots would be hitting the pitch in 2016, some of the world’s best players have revealed a prototype boot after images emerged on Instagram appearing on training pitches.
Now the Ace 16+ Purecontrol, the first laceless football boot, will be worn on pitch by the likes of Mesut Ozil and Ivan Rakitic from 23rd January.
A limited number of the boots will be available to the public in adidas flagship stores in Paris, Marseille, London, Barcelona and Manchester, and in selected retail partners.
According to adidas, the laces have been replaced with three key points of stability to lock the foot into the boot. A TPU cage locks over the three stripes to secure the mid foot, and is further anchored by a knitted upper and an internal knitted techfit locking system. The upper is an evolution of adidas’ Primeknit technology, combining tight and loose premium knits across the boot for optimum fit.
The result is a glove-like fit, using a larger surface area to generate more power and accuracy.
The Ace 16+ Purecontrol has been tested from grass roots leagues in Sweden to robotics in the adidas laboratory.
Mesut Ozil, who will be one of the players to wear the boots and helped the product’s development, said: “My whole career I have tried to minimise the impact of laces on my strike and ball control. I revealed to adidas in 2014 that in the changing room I knot the laces over and over again and then tuck in the ends, that way they do not interfere with my touch. When they came to me last year with the laceless boots, it was like they have created my dream product. I cannot wait to wear them on the pitch.”
adidas football vice president of design Sam Handy added: “The Ace 16+ Purecontrol is already set to become one of our most iconic releases ever. We’ve taken away something that has been present in every pair of football boots adidas has released – the laces. The result is a really pure silhouette and a beautiful shape. That shape not only makes it visually stunning, but most importantly gives our players an unparalleled strike surface.”
