A decade of Canadian streetwear in a single shoe. The Adidas NMD_R1 — Primeknit upper, full Boost midsole, iconic EVA midsole plugs — now on sale from $99 CAD.
When Adidas released the NMD_R1 in December 2015, it was an immediate sell-out. The shoe drew from three Adidas archive runners — the 1984 Micro Pacer, the 1986 Rising Star, and the 1984 Boston Super — and fused their design language into a single contemporary silhouette. The result was a shoe that felt both deeply familiar and completely new: a Primeknit upper over a full-length Boost midsole, with two pairs of moulded EVA plugs on the midsole sidewalls referencing the original shoes' construction details.
In Canada, the NMD_R1 arrived at exactly the right moment. The combination of genuine Boost comfort (established by the Ultraboost the previous year) with a cleaner, more street-appropriate silhouette filled a gap in the Canadian sneaker market. By 2016 and 2017, the NMD_R1 was one of the most visible shoes in Canadian cities. A decade later, it remains one of the most consistently purchased Adidas shoes in the country.
The NMD_R1 on sale in Canada from $99 CAD at AdidasShoeSale.ca. That is full Boost midsole technology, Primeknit upper, and the most recognizable street-shoe silhouette in the Adidas catalogue — at a price that beats regular Canadian retail by 29% or more.
What has kept the NMD_R1 relevant through a decade of rapidly shifting sneaker trends is not nostalgia — it is the shoe's fundamental quality. The Boost midsole genuinely outperforms most competing foam technologies for all-day comfort. The Primeknit upper genuinely conforms to the foot better than engineered mesh or structured synthetic uppers. These are real performance advantages that make the NMD_R1 one of the most practical as well as stylish shoes in the Adidas range.
The NMD R1 family has expanded considerably since 2015. Here is a clear breakdown of the variants available to Canadian buyers:
The NMD_R1's Primeknit upper and Boost midsole give it a technical, performance-adjacent aesthetic that works best when leaned into rather than fought against. Here is how Canadian NMD buyers are wearing it in 2026:
One styling note: the NMD_R1 works best when the upper colourway and the EVA plug colour are treated as design elements to work with. The plugs are a bold feature — rather than trying to neutralize them, build the outfit around them.
The NMD_R1 competes with several other Adidas Boost-equipped shoes for the Canadian buyer's attention. Here is how it stacks up:
Also explore the broader Adidas NMD sale Canada page for the full NMD range, or browse our Originals Canada sale for other Boost and non-Boost Originals.