The style and construction of shoes are certainly important, but technology also plays a major role. Under Armour’s partnership with Curry Brand has aggressively leaned into elevating their releases over the years with the help of flow technology.
According to information provided on Under Armour’s website, the technology “is a responsive, grippy, and supportive singular-foam compound that is the highest performance ground-contact cushioning technology ever produced by the brand.”
Under Armour created Flow technology in conjunction with Dow and first debuted the technology with the release of the Curry Flow 8 sneaker in 2020.
Curry experienced the flow technology wearing the upper of the Curry 4 one year prior, and he was quickly impressed, he says. The benefits of the technology have led to improved performance from Curry on the court.
“The Curry Flow 8, for me, has boosted so much of my confidence and my ability to be consistent out there on the floor,” Curry said in a statement about the Curry Flow 8 , according to Under Armour’s website. “I have no doubt that with any move I make, the traction is going to be there and I’m going to be able to change directions or stop at the drop of a dime.”
He added, “It’s allowed all of my dribble moves to be a little more shifty. A night-and-day difference to any other shoe that I’ve ever worn.”
Steve Segears, senior merchant of global merchandising for Curry and Basketball at Under Armour, told AfroTech, “It has the best grip and the best traction of any shoe ever created. When Stephen’s making his moves, he feels locked into the court while other people are sliding, which are competition; their technology, they haven’t caught up.”
In the coming weeks, flow technology will display its magic once again when the Curry 1 FloTro Draft Day hits the market.
The shoe is a flashback to June 25, 2009, when Curry was drafted to the Golden State Warriors. On that day, the Davidson College (North Carolina) student wore a gray suit paired with a purple polka-dot tie and pocket square.
The historic day is detailed in the Curry 1 FloTro Draft Day colorway, which includes a still-water and pink sugar color palette topped with a lightning bolt accent, which at the time was integrated into the team’s logo from 1998 to 2010, per Logos World. The inspiration from Curry’s tie is shown in the polka-dot detail placed on the lavender gradient midsole of the soon-to-be-released shoe.
“We just thought it was a fun opportunity to bring back that nostalgia of the 2009 draft class for Curry,”John O’Connor, a designer for Curry Brand and Under Armour, told AfroTech in an exclusive interview. “That was such a big moment of him being underrated, and just bringing that back for the new Curry consumers and giving them a flashback of what the outfits were back then and what they could look like today. So, just more of an exciting moment for the brand really, just honing in on the excitement around Draft Day.”
Additionally, the FloTro upholds the similar DNA of the Curry 1 but will have greater advantages such as being less rigid and having greater responsiveness.
“As far as the build, we want to keep all the things that made the Curry 1 inherent when you see the shoe,” Segears explained. “The one thing that we say about FloTro is it’s our chance, our ability, to go back and make up for some of the sins of the past. We wanted to improve everything we could from a comfort standpoint as well from the underfoot cushioning technology.”
The Curry 1 FloTro Draft Day colorway will hit the market on June 22, the same day as the 2023 NBA draft. You can purchase the shoe exclusively on currybrand.com and in select UA Brand Houses.
