Take a look at adidas's gorgeous new shoes with 3D-printed soles

You will soon be able to wear adidas shoes made from 3D-printed materials.

The German sportswear firm has teamed up with Carbon, a Silicon Valley start-up, to make trainers with 3D-printed midsoles – and they are ready to go into mass production.

The company has been experimenting with 3D printing and manufacturing for a while, but now it has a product ready to go to market.

adidas aims to sell 5,000 pairs of Futurecraft 4D by autumn this year, with plans to scale up to more than 100,000 pairs by end of 2018.

The midsole of this new footwear is designed using a process known as Continuous Liquid Interface Production and was created from liquid polymer resin and moulded using ultraviolet light.

The method was created by Carbon, which it claims allows for a much more flexible shoe compared to materials created using traditional 3D printers.

Dr Joseph DeSimone, Carbon co-founder and CEO, said: “We’ve broken the cycle and are making it possible to go directly from design to production. We’re enabling engineers and designers to create previously impossible designs, and businesses to evolve their offerings, and Futurecraft 4D is evidence of that.

“Our partnership with adidas will serve as an ongoing testament to how the digital revolution has reached the global manufacturing sector, changing the way physical goods are designed, engineered, made and delivered.”

By changing the geometry of the lattice in certain areas, Carbon says it can make the midsoles firmer or softer.

The cost of a single pair has not yet been revealed, but adidas has suggested Futurecraft 4D will be a premium product.