Reebok revives The Question as a 3D-printed shoe

The two oval pods above the sole are still there, but the construction underneath is different. Reebok, Allen Iverson and footwear printer Zellerfeld have remade the 1996 Question as the Question 96/26, a single-piece 3D-printed shoe scheduled to launch through Zellerfeld’s platform on August 25 at 12pm EST.

The original Question launched in 1996 and became a streetwear favorite following Iverson’s rookie season with the Philadelphia 76ers. Its pods were built around Hexalite, a hexagonal impact-absorbing structure adapted from aerospace engineering. On the 96/26, the pods are decorative. The new shoe is monochromatic, with white and purple options shown so far, and drops the laces for a slip-on fit.

The technical change is inside the shell. One flexible material, TPU — thermoplastic polyurethane — runs through the entire shoe, while its density changes by location: denser at the toe and sole, looser at the tongue and sides. That lets the printer build support and flexibility into one object rather than relying on the multi-material assembly conventional shoemaking typically uses.

Concretely, this reflects a shift toward using 3D printing to produce finished, wearable shoes rather than mainly for prototypes. For Reebok and Zellerfeld, the same approach can support designs that are shaped by function across the shoe instead of by separately assembled parts. The 96/26 is part of Zellerfeld’s wider work with sportswear brands, including projects involving Nike, Justin Bieber’s SKYLRK and Havaianas.

The scale of that shift remains limited in what has been reported here. The shoe has a planned release, but no price, production volume or independent performance testing is provided. Nike is pursuing a related route in a patent for printing a sole directly onto a 3D-printed fabric upper, while its Air Max 1000 was described as its first sneaker produced almost entirely with 3D printing and was also developed with Zellerfeld.