Adidas and Pharrell Williams have just recently released two new colorways of the NMD Hu to add to the long list of existing colorways in Pharrell’s signature line with The Three Stripes. Dubbed as the “Extra Eye”, these sneakers were initially launched exclusively at the NTWRK Transfer festival, a two-day virtual event last August that featured many musicians and artists. As a multi-operational platform, NTWRK aims to promote and celebrate these creative industries thru digital spaces as the new normal. Other notable brands and artists at the festival aside from Adidas were present, such as Be@rbrick, Sacai, Atmos, Concepts and Vans, among others. Following its limited release during the NTWRK Transfer festival, this colorway is set to have a wider and broader release across different Adidas stores globally. Priced at P13,000, this sneaker is almost twice the cost of the original NMD shoe which, of course, is expected from a product in the Pharrell x Adidas line that is on the higher end of Adidas products’ price range.
Included in Adidas’ release of the NMD Hu “Extra Eye” are two pairs that possess properties that are both similar and yet different to one another. The first pair, which is identical to that which released at the aforementioned NTWRK Transfer festival, is predominantly orange and light blue, making it look like a colorway for the New York Knicks or the Oklahoma City Thunder. Its orange primeknit upper is supported by a white lace cage, blue Boost midsole, white outsole and with off-white colored laces. Similar to all the other NMD Hu versions of Pharrell, large and eye-catching texts top off the upper, with this iteration featuring the Chinese characters “额外” and “眼睛” on the right and left, respectively, which translate to “Extra” and “Eye”, respectively.
The second pair, on the hand, is more multi-colored with a variance of hues. Its three-toned primeknit upper of maroon and grey comprise majority of the shoe, being accompanied by a sky blue lace cage, white Boost midsole, green outsole and yellow laces. Similar to the previous pair, this colorway sports the large texts “Extra” and “Eye” on the right and left shoe, respectively, except this time in English instead of in Chinese characters.
In terms of how and where both of these colorways in the “Extra Eye” pack differ from the previous versions in Pharrell’s NMD Hu lineup is seen on the outsole of the shoe. The earlier releases of the sneakers have trail-ready outsoles that made its bottom look like studs from cleats, ultimately making the sneakers as a whole look bulkier. The two “Extra Eye” pairs come in a flatter and smoother outsole, similar to that of the actual NMD silhouette, making this new release have a sleeker look.
Of the two sneakers in this release, I prefer the more multi-colored one than the pair that was first seen among the two during the NTWRK Transfer festival. The colors burgundy, yellow, green and sky blue may seem contrasting or non-complimentary on paper, but I like how they are specifically put together on this shoe. I also prefer the sleeker look of the “Extra Eye” release with the flatter outsoles as compared to the previous iterations of the NMD Hu that feature a trail-ready outsole.
In regards to Pharrell’s NMD Hu line with Adidas as a whole, I like that they have frequently released multiple variations of colorways and styles over the years, but I feel as if it might be too many which consequently hurts the overall value of the shoe. This is something that I also see Adidas doing on their Yeezy collaboration with Kanye West wherein various styles and colorways are released in a short time window which, for me personally, make it less appealing.
In fact, early last September prior to the official release of the “Extra Eye” by Adidas on October 2, 2020, a picture of Pharrell Williams and Quavo, member of rap group Migos, was posted on both of their personal Instagram accounts of both of them posing with 12 unreleased shoes from Pharrell’s Adidas collaboration. Among those 12 were the 2 colorways which eventually formed the “Extra Eye” pack, 8 other unreleased NMD Hu colorways and 2 unreleased Crazy BYW colorways as well. It’s then quite safe to say that we can fully expect Pharrell and Adidas to continue to release more and more exciting sneakers and products to add to their already successful and popular collaboration.
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