No, These Sneakers Weren't Made in adidas' Speedfactory
Brands borrow each other’s ideas almost as often as they come up with their own, but every so often a lookalike appears too similar not to call out. Case in point: this Gola Active X-PAND Force.
No points for guessing whose homework Gola copied; the sneaker is a nearly one-to-one rip of . Everything from the knitted uppers to the lace supports to the heel collar qualify this Gola for a feature.
The sneaker even has a go at copying technology. This isn’t surprising; the technology doesn’t belong to adidas (they’ve only licensed it) and many brands have delivered their own blend of energy-returning capsules. The issue with Gola’s sneaker is that the shape of its TPU-featuring X-PAND foam midsole barely deviates from adidas’ design.
Still, it’s not all bad. Anyone moaning about dropping hundreds on a Speedfactory design now has an alternative. It might not be of the same quality, but at £65 you'll get what you pay for.