adidas Adizero Control x RHEON™
Role: Design Lead
Client: Adidas
Completed: September 2023
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CGI by Alfie Thompson
for RHEON LABS
1% is the Difference between Glory and Pain.
Adizero Control was created with and for the fastest road racing athletes in the world.
The 9-piece collection was designed to help elite runners go even faster on race day, made possible by combining years of athlete insight with the latest innovations in materials & design from RHEON LABS.
// Behind the Design
Building on the established visual identity of the Techfit Control collection, I led the design of the Adizero Control collection from initial concept through to production.
I developed early computational design concepts that utilised muscle movement data, thermal sensitivity maps and sweat secretion zones to create bespoke RHEON components that dynamically support muscles during activity without sacrificing breathability in key areas. After several iterations of athlete testing, user feedback and fit changes, an optimised suite of garments was rolled out to Adidas’ team of atheletes ahead of a public launch.
Fit Testing of CR1 PrototypesAdidas Athlete Testing, August 2022
During the project I was responsible for generating scripts to create the bespoke Rheon components and implementing learnings from both lab and field testing programs back into the design process. I was also responsible for the scale-up from samples to full size sets in all garments, design and implementation of quality control measures and coordinating production of samples with global manufacturing partners.
I am listed as a co-inventor on the Design Patent DS3122US01 covering the Techfit Control and Adizero Control collections.
CGI by Alfie Thompson
for RHEON LABS
// Data Driven Design
To develop the computational design process, I spent time in biomechanics labs
working with a research team mapping out and codifying how the leg muscles move throughout the duration of a run. This was key to understanding how they become misaligned from their most efficient path throughout the gait cycle. I then combined this with temperature sentivity mapping and sweat secretion zones informed by Adidas’ sports science team, and extensive user feedback from track and field athletes.
The developed solution targeted support and control of key muscle groups during running, whilst aiming to maintain breathability and comfort of the underlying garment when at rest.
Anything the runners described as a problem, I codified – from heat management to muscle wobble.
// In Competition
Jessica Schilder, World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023Grant Holloway, 1st Place 600m hurdles
at the 2024 Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais
Tamirat Tola, New Course Record at the New York Marathon 2023
Demi Van den Wildenberg, 2024 Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais
Laviai Nielson, Two PBs at the 2024 Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-CalaisMargot Chevrier, 2024 Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais
// Featured in