Yeezy 450 “Cloud White”: A Tasty Dumpling?
Price: $200 [Sold Out – Check eBay for Current Prices]
Why Should You Buy?
The Yeezy 450 is a unique sneaker, made with high quality materials in a country with strong labor standards – plus, what else in your closet is like this?
Why Stay Away?
If you don’t like a lot of attention, and don’t have other shoes to rotate in and out, these might not be for you.
Specs:
| Model | Yeezy 450 |
| Height | Low |
| Colorway | Could White |
| Size | 13 |
| Weight | 449 g / 15.8 oz |
| Construction | Cemented |
| Country of Origin | Germany |
Contents:
I think we all thought the same thing when we saw the Yeezy 450. We were getting further and further away from the golden era of Yeezy sneakers. There was no boost. There were the dumpling memes. My guess was that this was going to be another model that was a swing and a miss, and would fade into obscurity.
When Adidas gave me early access to the 450s I thought I would pick them up, do a quick review making a few jokes, and then sell them on eBay for a $6 dollar profit. I finally received them, and as much as it surprises me to say, I was wrong. This definitely isn’t a shoe for everyone. But, in hand, I might go so far as to say it’s one of my favorite designs from Yeezy since the 700 V1.
History:
When it comes to Yeezy models, I’m not sure anything had such a long time from initial leak as a concept to release. The first time the 450 was leaked was way back in 2018. It was set to be a 2019 release only to be pushed back again – and again – until it finally released in 2021.
The release sold out instantly, but they were and continue to be a fairly controversial shoe. They represent everything good, and everything bad, about where Yeezy is today. They are ethically made –assembled in a German factory with high workplace ethics, using biodegradable foam. At the same time, the Yeezy 450 ignores the catalog of Adidas advancements over the last few years. These are as basic as can be, but still carry the Yeezy price tag.
Let’s dive into this shoe and see what it is, what it isn’t, and if you should pick one up.
Looks:
Midsole/Upper
Normally I’d break down the looks section into upper and midsole/outsole, but for the Yeezy 450, that break is harder to find.
The first thing you – and everyone within 100 feet of you – notices is the wild midsole. Stretching up on the upper like a deformed claw, the midsole is basically the entire structure of the shoe. 7 points run from the bottom to the top, and hold the knit upper in place. On this Cloud White colorway, the outsole is a slightly off-white, pearlescent color.
Speaking of that knit upper, Adidas used a darker colored knit pattern for the rest of the shoe. It is actually a few different types of knit. Up front it’s a looser straight pattern, while at the back it’s more of a broken-weave sweater-style knit. While they tried to go for one color on this one, I think they built in the option for multi-colored uppers in the near future. I do say tried because I’ve noticed on every one, including these, the back of the shoe has a brownish tint to it. The discoloration seems to be on the black colorway as well.
Everything Else
After you take in the midsole and the upper, you’ll notice a few other features on the shoe. The laces are actually held in by rings sewn into the knit. These are not reenforced at all, so probably best to leave these in the deadstock knot and not pull on the laces. The laces themselves are typical Yeezy rope laces. They are pretty good, but won’t surprise you if you’ve ever held a Yeezy before.
The one area of the exterior that I really don’t like is the crew-sock like collar. In my opinion, this doesn’t flatter anybody, and every shoe that has it would look better without it. Thankfully, just about every pant will cover this so it isn’t a big deal once on feet.
Underneath, a white rubber outsole carries a wave pattern – and the only exterior branding on the shoe.
Inside, the insoles look like what you would get in a 350, though more on that later.
Fit & Comfort:
Fit:
The Yeezy 450 fits small, though I found they were not nearly as small as other reviews make them out to be. Even Adidas says to go a full size up, but I’m not sure they would have stayed on my feet. They are definitely long and narrow, but so are the 350 v2s and most other Adidas sneakers.
I got these in a size 13 and they fit perfectly. This is the same size I take in the Yeezy 350 V2, the Jordan 1, and a half size larger than I take in Stan Smiths. If you want to see my sizing in ever shoe we’ve reviewed on 100wears, click here.
Comfort:
While I was pretty surprised by how well these fit, I can’t say the same about the comfort of the Yeezy 450. The foam under these things is both hard and thin. Underfoot, the closest comparison I can make is a pair of Adidas Cloudfoam Slides that are about 50% worn out.
Don’t get me wrong, they are not actively uncomfortable, but if you’re used to soft and plush Yeezys, these are not the pair for you. In fact, I think that most of the comfort actually comes from the insole. Unlike most other Yeezys, which use a cheap open-cell foam insole, this has different densities under different parts of your foot.
Elsewhere, the upper on these is not nearly as stretchy as on something like the Ultraboost. I personally prefer this. As I mentioned on the ZX-4000 review, a less-stretchy primeknit actually holds your foot in place better and is more comfortable on long walks, but others may disagree.
Materials & Construction:
Materials:
The materials on the Yeezy 450 are pretty basic. The upper is traditional primeknit. If you’re not familiar with it, primeknit is a woven polyester blend, known for its stretchy nature. While much of the Adidas line has moved over to a recycled material known as “PrimeBlue, the Yeezy brand is still using the old stuff. With Ye’s focus on environmental activism in recent years, it would have been nice to see this shoe use the new material, though with the long production time these might have been built before the switch. Sewn on the back of the primeknit is a mesh liner, which should help keep the primeknit in good condition for as long as possible.
Underneath the shoe has a basic EVA foam. This is the type of foam you find in most mid-level running from brands like Asics and Saucony. Adidas has advertised that this foam is biodegradable, but it doesn’t look like the same Algae-based foam used on the Foam Runners.
Further down, the outsole is rubber, but is just about the softest rubber I’ve ever felt on a sneaker. I can’t imagine that is going to be very long lasting. In fact, it’s so soft I actually thought the design was pressed into the foam when I first took these out of the box.
Construction:
These shoes are made with fairly basic cemented construction. We go more in depth on the pros and cons of that here, but in short that means that the upper is glued onto the midsole with contact cement. This type of construction is pretty typical for sneakers and nothing to really be concerned about.
There is one interesting part of the construction however – as soon as you open the box you’ll notice a prominent “Made In Germany” sticker. Adidas ended up closing almost all of their remaining manufacturing in Germany back in 2019, and only have the capacity to do limited runs in 2021. Knowing that this is one of the shoes that is still done this way was really the tipping point on my opinion of the shoe.
It’s nice to see that Kanye is starting to keep to his word about making shoes with better labor standards. I’d love to see this become more standard on higher end sneakers.
Ease of Care:
The ease of care on these is simple. Don’t.
Adidas actually has a label on the shoe (laminated!) that specifically says do not wash. You may be able to spot clean, but due to the construction it will be pretty easy to separate one of the claws.
Pricing & Value:
Pricing:
Priced at $200, the Yeezy 450 models have sold out instantly every time they dropped, so unless you lucked out on the draw, you’ll end up paying resale. As always, I suggest using eBay – they use the same type of authentication service as StockX or GOAT but don’t charge any fees. At time of writing, pricing runs from around $240 to $270 depending on size, but everyone just got their pairs from the restock so that will probably go up.
Finding comparable shoes is hard because… look at them. The closest is probably the Yeezy 700 V3. This is a kind of similar organic design and also has regular foam under foot. The 700 V3 mostly fall into a similar price point of $240-290, so it’s really a wash on what you want.
Value:
From a materials perspective, the Yeezy 450s don’t really make a compelling argument to being a good value. Wearability is much the same – I don’t imagine you’d be able to wear these more than once a week before being “that guy.”
However, I’m not sure I’d say these are the same poor value that you might get with other hyped sneakers. First, making shoes in factories with good labor conditions costs money. Take a look at the European-made New Balances. The cheapest one is $210, and, once you start adding more advanced technology, they creep up closer to $250. And those shoes come from a factory that is fully operating and not set up to only do limited runs.
Second, if you have a hole in your wardrobe that these fill, I’m not sure what else would fill it. Love them or hate them, these don’t really look like anything else available.
Wrap Up:
I’m surprised as anyone to say: I really like the Yeezy 450.
I wanted to hate it. I thought that the best review would be one where I scatter jokes about crabs, and dim sum, and dumplings throughout while reminding everyone that Kanye was running for President when he confirmed the final design for this shoe. That probably would have been a more entertaining review.
However, while an entertaining review is important, it’s also important to give credit where credit is due. Adidas and Yeezy managed to launch a shoe that is made in humane conditions, and isn’t a retread of a shoe from 30 years ago.
It’s certainly not for everyone, but this is the type of innovation that I wish the industry would do more of. Instead of continuing to find new ways to pass garbage off as leather, find ways to improve the impact that sneakers have on the environment. Instead of dumping money to hype up dead models like the Jordan 2, design something new.
The world could use more Yeezy 450s.