History of adidas License of Barefootwear

By the end of 1994 licensing negotiations between Frampton Ellis & Anatomic Research Inc. and adidas successfully concluded in an exclusive license.  Adidas initially called Frampton’s technology barefootwear.  Adidas then renamed the technology “Feet You Wear” and decided to make it their core technology to be used in 90 percent of their future footwear (excluding existing “classic” models).

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Barefootwear was developed rapidly and brought to market in the fall of 1996 in a major marketing campaign as Feet You Wear with six different shoe models.  The news media featured many articles on Feet You Wear, including a NEW YORK TIMES article on Frampton’s patent license with adidas.

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Trade media at that time referred to the brewing footwear battle between adidas and Nike as “Bare vs. Air.”

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Steffi Graf wore the first Feet You Wear tennis shoe to win the 1996 U.S. Tennis Open.  It is notable that, although she signed as an adidas endorser as a teenager, she had previously always worn the same old adidas tennis shoe model, refusing to wear the latest new adidas model until Feet You Wear came along.

Adidas continued to develop the Feet You Wear line of footwear in 1997 through 2001 as its core technology, with many different models in every category of footwear, totaling well over a hundred different models in total during the period.  Kobe Bryant became the main basketball shoe endorser for Feet You Wear.

A licensing dispute arose abruptly in the fall of 2001 that rapidly led to litigation between Frampton Ellis & Anatomic Research and adidas. In 2003 a settlement was reached between the parties permanently ending the license.

The following unsolicited article in Sole Collector summarizes the history of adidas’ Feet You Wear line of footwear.

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Adidas – Feet you wear – old TV commercial with Kobe Bryant / stará reklama (1996)

Additional History
Remembering_adidas_Feet_You_Wear_Technology_THE_ICONIC_Edition (PDF)
FactsFriday_adidas_Feet_You_Wear (PDF)
The Science Behind The Shoe: 20 Innovations that Made adidas