Adidas to Revisit Its Biggest NMDs in 2021

Remember the brief reign of the Adidas NMD? It was an immediate hype magnet when it debuted in December 2015 and went on to be one of the most popular sneakers

October 29, 2020

2021 Adidas NMDs — NMD releases for 2021. Images via Adidas
Adidas

Remember the brief reign of the Adidas NMD? It was an immediate hype magnet when it debuted in December 2015 and went on to be one of the most popular sneakers of 2016 through its countless releases that year. Adidas will look to renew some of the NMD's original energy in 2021 with a group of new colorways that reference coveted makeups from years past. The leaked images here, which come from a document given to retailers by Adidas, show what to expect from the upcoming NMDs.

Per the Adidas document, which was viewed by Complex, the brand will release its homage series of NMDs beginning in January. That month will offer a "Hype" pair in black and yellow that references Pharrell's first NMD collection from 2016, a "Psy Hippie" iteration with glow-in-the-dark Primeknit inspired by the Nice Kicks tie-dye version from 2016, and a "Data Breach" one connected to Sneakersnstuff's "Datamosh" pairs from 2017.

After that, the document shows, Adidas is planning a camouflage "Tokyo Nights" colorway that borrows from Bape's 2016 NMD collaboration, a "Flash White" that flips the "Pitch Black" from 2016, and what looks like a straight retro of the original 2015 launch colorway of the NMD. That group of pairs is expected around March of next year.

The original NMD was designed by Nic Galway. The sneaker blended modern materials like Boost and Primeknit with archival design cues from Adidas shoes like the Micropacer, Boston Super, and Rising Star.

Adidas has not publicly confirmed these upcoming NMD releases. Given the shifting nature of sneaker release dates brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, it's possible that the pairs described here will arrive outside of their originally projected time frame.