Article of footwear with decoupled upper

An article of footwear, comprising:

• a longitudinal direction extending along a major axis of the article of footwear and a lateral direction extending along a minor axis of the article of footwear;
• an upper and a sole structure;
• a lateral side extending along the longitudinal direction of the article of footwear;
• a medial side extending along the longitudinal direction of the article of footwear;
• the lateral side being on an opposite side of the article of footwear from the medial side;
• a connecting member comprising a first sheet of material forming a substantially planar upper layer and a second sheet of material forming a substantially planar lower layer,
• a lower surface of the upper layer being directly attached to an upper surface of the lower layer at a central attachment portion that extends longitudinally along the connecting member, the upper layer also being attached to the lower layer at a first portion, wherein the first portion is located along the medial side of the article of footwear and extends longitudinally along an entire length of the connecting member;
• wherein the lower layer of the connecting member separates the upper from the sole structure, and wherein the lower layer of the connecting member extends from a medial edge of the sole structure to a lateral edge of the sole structure, and wherein the lower surface of the upper layer is engaged with the upper surface of the lower layer by an adhesive from the central attachment portion to the medial side of the article of footwear;
• wherein the upper layer has a length and a width, and the lower layer has a length and a width, and the upper layer has a thickness and the lower layer has a thickness;
• the upper layer being attached to the upper and the lower layer being attached to the sole structure;
• the connecting member including a decoupled portion extending from the central attachment portion to the lateral side of the article of footwear, the decoupled portion including a first free portion of the upper layer and a first free portion of the lower layer, the first free portion of the upper layer being configured to move substantially independently of the first free portion of the lower layer;
• wherein the decoupled portion has a width that is substantially the same as a width from the central attachment portion to the first portion;
• wherein the central attachment portion is spaced substantially equidistant from the lateral side of the article of footwear and the medial side of the article of footwear;
• wherein the thickness of the upper layer is substantially less than the width of the upper layer and wherein the thickness of the lower layer is substantially less than the width of the lower layer;
• and
• wherein when the upper tilts toward the medial side of the article of footwear, the first free portion of the upper layer and the first free portion of the lower layer separate such that the lower periphery of the upper moves away from an upper periphery of the sole structure on a lateral side of the article of footwear.