Rick Owens Gives adidas' Springblade Another Bounce

Sixteen blades, one heatwave and a nine-year wait.

Rick Owens and adidas are officially back together, and they've brought the strangest-looking sole in the Three Stripes archive with them. The reunion lands as a three-piece Springblade capsule: two takes on the Springblade Runner and a tall, slouchy Springblade Boots.

All three drop on 17 November 2026. And if you've been waiting since the last Rick Owens x adidas collection landed back in 2017, that's not long at all.

A Closer Look at the Rick Owens x adidas Springblade Collection…

Let's start with the Runner, which comes in two versions (KJ5663 and KJ3110). Both mix leather and canvas across the upper, with leather panels wrapped around the toe box.

Then there are the stripes. Owens has blown the Three Stripes up to oversized proportions, so they stretch across almost the entire side of the shoe. He once admitted he "fetishized" adidas' classic three-striped sportswear, and it shows.

The second Runner keeps the same build and the same blown-up branding. What really connects the pair, though, is what's happening underneath. More on that in a moment.

If the Runners are the easy entry point, the Springblade Boots (KJ3122) are pure Owens. The tall, loose shaft climbs past the calf, and a pleated section nods to his own Taco Boots from the main line.

Part of the upper is made from tough CORDURA, which gives the gathered shape a bit of structure. It's the kind of voluminous, draped silhouette you'd expect to see on his runway rather than in a running shop. Which is sort of the point.

Sixteen Blades, Zero Foam

So, about that sole. adidas unveiled the Springblade in June 2013 as a running shoe, and it was a bold one. Instead of a traditional foam midsole, it sits on sixteen separate blades made from high-grade polymer.

The idea was that each blade is "individually tuned". Every one has a slightly different width, thickness and angle, and they all lean forward. Step down and they flex, then spring back, a bit like a row of tiny diving boards.

adidas said the shoe had been six years in the making, and its creative team called it "radically different than any running shoe ever created". The brand also claimed one of the highest energy returns in the industry. Bear in mind that's adidas talking, and there are no performance figures for these new Rick Owens versions.

Not that performance is really why you'd buy them. Owens saw the Springblade as sculpture first, and he first put it under his own design back in 2015. Viewed side-on, it still looks more like something from a sci-fi film than a trainer.

Rick Owens Has Been Here Before

If you're newer to the Owens universe, here's the short version. Born in Porterville, California in 1961, he studied art at Otis College of Art and Design before taking pattern-making classes at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.

He launched his label in 1994 from a store on Hollywood Boulevard, picked up the CFDA Perry Ellis Award for Emerging Talent in 2002 and moved to Paris with his partner Michèle Lamy a year later. A CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award followed in 2017.

Sneakerheads probably know him best for the Geobasket, his chunky high-top with geometric panels. Over the years he's also teamed up with Birkenstock, Veja, Moncler, Champion, Dr. Martens and Converse.

His first run with adidas started in 2013 and wrapped up in 2017. That era gave us the Tech Runner, the Springblade Low, a Superstar Boot and the Mastodon Pro Model II, so this capsule picks up right where the story left off.

Air Con in a Tracksuit

The reunion was first revealed at Owens' Spring/Summer 2027 show in Paris on 25 June 2026. The city was in the middle of a heatwave at the time, and Owens even moved his show forward to 10am to dodge the worst of it.

The clothes leaned into the heat too. Track jackets inflated into sculptural balloons, with built-in fans cooling the wearer. Owens called it a "personal air conditioning system". There was also a cooling vest based on adidas' Climacool tech, originally developed for footballers at the 2026 World Cup.

As for why Owens wanted to work with adidas again, he told Vogue the idea came when he noticed people in his studio wearing other brands' running shoes. Fair enough. If you're going to build your own runner, you might as well give it springs.

How About the Drop Date?

The Rick Owens x adidas Springblade collection drops on 17 November 2026 via the adidas CONFIRMED app, Rick Owens and select retailers. adidas UK lists all three as CONFIRMED exclusives, so make sure the app is installed and you're logged in before launch day.

Here in the UK, both versions of the Springblade Runner (KJ5663 and KJ3110) are priced at £440, while the Springblade Boots (KJ3122) come in at £635. Sizing is unisex, so double-check your size before the drop.

Fancy a browse first? The full Rick Owens range lives over at adidas.

IMAGE CREDITS: RICK OWENS / ADIDAS