To propel his brand forward, Steph Curry is looking to the past for inspiration. The athlete and Under Armour are ready to unveil the Curry 4 FloTro sneaker, the first in a series of reimagined and redesigned silhouettes set to release this year.
Go with the flow —
The new and improved Curry 4 is equipped with all of the performance elements expected from a basketball shoe but utilizes Under Armour’s signature Flow technology to take it a step further. Flow eliminates the traditional rubber outsole and swaps it for an elongated, singular-foam compound, one of the most responsive ground-contact cushioning technologies made by the brand.
A traditional rubber outsole adds about two to three ounces of weight, whereas the Flow foam cushion ensures that the sneaker is lighter and sticks to the hardwood better than rubber. The material was first introduced on the Curry 8, the athlete’s first Under Armour sneaker. The Curry 4, like its predecessor, has a flexibility-first approach, as opposed to the stability-first approach of other basketball shoes, but still manages to create a supportive sneaker without stiffness.
Under Armour also added an IntelliKnit collar to the heel for easier slip-on and -off access. Thanks to the knit, the shoe is more breathable and offers the right amount of stretch and support when you need it to. According to Ed Wallace, Senior Footwear Designer for Under Armour’s Curry & Basketball division, the team purposely kept the sneaker’s design simple to be able to elevate the performance details of the original Curry 4.
Choose your warrior —
Leather and suede comprise the sneaker’s materials in three color options: a salmon-pink “Now You See Me,” a black “Light Show,” and a vivid lilac. The pink is fitted with a pastel upper and a white Flow cushion, along with hints of gray underneath the laces. “Light Show” uses a black upper, a vintage off-white — and glow-in-the-dark — Flow cushion, and red and blue laces. The lilac follows a similar makeup as the pink. More variants will also be joining the lineup later with fresh designs.
Aside from being Curry’s sneaker of choice during the 2022 NBA Finals, the sneaker also pays tribute to other career highlights. Curry wore the model when he became the fastest player in NBA history to achieve 2,000 career three-pointers and helped the Golden State Warriors win the 2017 championship title. The upgraded model is an homage to his legacy while making room for new achievements.
The pink and black Curry 4 FloTro are set to arrive on the Curry Brand website on July 22, while the lilac version is slated for an August 5 release. Each is priced at $160, but you know what they say, go big or go foam.
