Pharrell Williams wants you to know that his latest collaboration with Adidas a pair of PW Boost Slide sandals, is exceptionally comfortable. Not just cushy or foamy, but more like a cloud kissing your heel. Or maybe like your arches are being cradled by the baby-soft hands of a thousand cherubs. Williams himself likens the sensation quite simply to “wearing socks.…You don’t even think about it anymore.”
The superstar rapper and producer’s take on a slide has been a long time coming, something he had in mind when he first began collaborating with Adidas back in 2014. Right now his design philosophy seems especially prescient. “It is what I’ve been talking about for years and we finally got around to doing it,” says Williams speaking over the phone from his home in Miami. “You should be the most comfortable you can be, and I think these slides are competing for that spot in your mind.”
Unlike the standard flat pool slide, the PW comes enhanced with Williams’s longtime love for reflexology. The silhouette follows the foot’s anatomy with added padding along the upper part of the shoe, as well as a sole that’s injected with the brand’s cushioning boost technology. “[Comfort] is the one thing that gets overlooked when it comes to sports slides. It is always about how much a brand can save and how much of a profit margin can they garner by just throwing something in some regular old mold,” says Williams. “These are different because they were crafted with the expressed intention of making every step comfortable.”
Williams’s trademark sense for color is front and center in the collection, with hot pink and orange slides available in addition to basic black. As for his thoughts on the controversial sock-and-sandals debate? Mr. Williams refused to take a side when asked, despite having sent in a selfie decked out in socks and sandals. “Some people wear nothing, some people wear pantyhose, it just depends on who the person is and what they have to do and where they are headed and what their intentions are and how comfortable they want to be,” he says before adding. “You’ll see, but better yet, you’ll feel.”
