First Look: AR Trainer and S.C. Premiere

adidas Originals takes inspiration from classic and contemporary contexts, presenting two distinctive silhouettes, the A.R. Trainer and SC Premiere models.

First up, the A.R. Trainer silhouette presents a refined take on an original ‘80s training shoe. Reimagining the ASC Trainer model from 1988, the shoe’s paneled construction and fluid lines offer a slightly updated expression of the era’s unique tennis aesthetic. Constructed from premium leather throughout, the shoe is finished off with an 80’s style multi-purpose training sole unit and trefoil logo branding throughout.

In contrast, the SC Premiere silhouette takes inspiration from similar roots to create a more fluid, modernized take on 40 years of the adidas court archive aesthetic. The shoe’s premium leather upper is countered by a rubber midsole with a contrast off-white outsole, while a contrast heel-tab and trefoil logo window on the lateral side completes the picture.

The A.R. Trainer and SC Premiere is available at selected adidas Originals stores and online.

First Look: adidas Originals x Dragonball Z

adidas Originals partnered with Toei Animation and its iconic international anime series, Dragon Ball Z. Since 1989, Dragon Ball Z has transcended the world of anime and manga, reaching global icon status within contemporary pop-culture.

The collaboration sees three of the most iconic battles between heroes and villains throughout the anime re-imagined in sneaker form. Following the Dragon Ball Z chronology, the collaboration features seven silhouettes from the adidas Originals roster, carefully chosen to represent the characteristics of the heroes and villains to which they refer. Kicking off with the legendary battle between two of Dragon Ball Z’s most recognizable faces, Son Goku and Frieza, the collaborative project begins with the ZX 500 RM and Yung-1 respectively. Following this, the project moves to Son Gohan and Cell who are depicted in sneaker form as Deerupt and Prophere. Representing the final battle in the project, the Ultra Tech and Kamanda silhouettes are made-up in the image of Vegeta and Majin Buu. With the culmination of all 7 Dragon balls, the collaboration will be finished with the appearance of Shenron the Dragon, which is re-imagined as the EQT Support Mid ADV PK.

Each release will include two silhouettes (one hero and one villian), dropping monthly from September to December. The shoes will  be  presented  in  special  collaborative  packaging  featuring  an  individual  Dragon  Ball  detail,  each  box  coming  together  to  create  a  singular  back  cover  design - a homage to the tapestry-like images found on the spines of the original Dragon Ball magazines.

Re-affirming a relentless commitment to collaboration and creativity, the project positions adidas Originals at the forefront of global popular-culture, uniting  classic  adidas  design  with  one  of  the  most  beloved  animated  series  of  all  time.

First Look: Deerupt by adidas Originals

adidas Originals introduces its newest sneaker, Deerupt — a contemporary take on adidas heritage realized in a radically new look. At once minimalist and bold, the silhouette looks to the archive for its grid design inspiration, while debuting a new profile that remains undeniably adidas.

Inspired equally by urban planning, architecture, and natural phenomena, Deerupt holds the grid as its central design principle. Initially featured in adidas running silhouettes in the 80s - once a key feature on the New York runner and Marathon Training shoe – today the grid design is stretched to envelope the entire shoe. When warped to exaggerated proportions and injected with electric color, the grid is transformed into a bold visual motif for today.

Constantly playing with the grid itself through textures, layers and different perspectives, the collapsible, runner-inspired design features an ultra-lightweight construction with knit uppers covered in stretchable netting.

Inside, zoned foam pockets molded along the shoe’s interior lining ensure the highest degree of fit by locking the foot into the shoe to create a supportive compression. The result is a product with a truly unique benefit: a shoe that conforms to its wearer ensuring ultimate comfort.

Deerupt launches in the hero colorway Solar Bird, a meld of two iconic adidas tones: Solar Red and Bluebird. Designed with a strong visual identity - simple authenticity provides maximum impact.

The Deerupt silhouette drops Thursday, March 22 and will be available at a retail price of R1899 at adidas Originals stores, select retailers and www.adidas.co.za.

First Look: adidas Originals Prophere

A brand new silhouette for 2018, adidas Originals introduces the second drop of Prophere in subtle color pops of all over core black, khaki, olive, teal and white maintaining the disruptive feel of the silhouette and creating a military feel.

Designed for everyday use with an aesthetic set to turn heads, the Prophere strips 3-stripe design language to its core before amplifying each element.

A one-piece, soft knit upper forms the base of the shoe, structured by an enlarged 3-stripe mark that acts as the shoe’s lacing system, finished with a structural heel cage and reinforced tongue. This is then placed atop an aggressive midsole with fluid lines and dynamic texture, whilst embroidered details across the shoe’s medial side add a final hit to the shoe’s distinctive design.

Prophere will drop on 1 March 2018 at a retail price of R1899 and will be available at adidas Originals stores, select retailers and www.adidas.co.za

adidas Originals Relaunches Crazy with Two New Styles

adidas Originals celebrates the relaunch of an iconic ‘90’s mid cut basketball silhouette Crazy, with the release of two new styles. Inspired by the clash of 90’s culture and its provocative, futuristic design, the re-release of Crazy is an unexpected take on a classic style for a new generation. To complement the audacious and bold look of the sneaker, a campaign featuring 21 Savage, Playboi Carti and Young Thug, captures the defiantly unhumble and uncompromising spirit of the shoe.

Crazy challenges humility as a barrier to creativity. In a campaign that boasts bold graphics and projects the daring, fearless spirit of the footwear, the images complement the unrelenting attitude of both the talent and the footwear styles.

Individually each rapper possesses a strong sense of style, fearlessness and confidence. As a group, these three young audacious rappers symbolize an un-humble attitude.

Retaining the Crazy ADV’s distinctive, futuristic design, the latest release sees the shoe rendered in premium nubuck across the upper, with a premium sockfit neoprene interior for optimum fit and a minimalist concealed lacing system. This is then placed atop a dual-density PU tooling with branding details in the midsole and outsole. The result is a razor-sharp modern reinvention of a basketball icon that transcends boundaries of footwear design.

The Crazy 8 ADV PK refines the Crazy 8’s aggressive silhouette, featuring a full Primeknit construction across the upper with distinctive textured stripes and vacuum-coated structural overlays. A simple concealed lacing system completes the design, accented by the shoe’s distinctive jagged tooling, complete with open windows creating subtle visual contrast.

Audacious in style, unapologetic in attitude, Crazy dismisses the concept of humility. To be humble is to be content. Creators - and Crazy - never are.

The adidas Originals Crazy Pack drops on 23 November and will be available from adidas Originals stores, adidas.co.za and selected retailers.

adidas Originals Drop The Latest EQT Footwear and Apparel Pack

This season adidas Originals pays tribute to the city of Detroit with the release of a new EQT footwear and apparel pack.

Drawing from the unique ‘90’s aesthetic and colour palette of the original Equipment series, the new apparel collection offers a range of classic sportswear pieces in accessible, mixable colours. For women iconic colours like white, heather grey and essential EQT green are brought together across a range of pieces including dresses, sweats and outerwear.

In the men’s range, similar principles are applied to a more classic apparel collection, switching out EQT green for a deep EQT blue shade. Similar details such as EQT 3-stripes graphic prints and panelled constructions return, whilst designs take a more traditional route, modifying classic sportswear with subtle adjustments such as extended silhouettes and utility pockets.

For women, a new iteration of the EQT Racing ADV silhouette is presented in a clean aqua colour way with contrast black accents. The men’s offering presents a new edition of the futuristic EQT Support 93/17 model, utilising a knit textile upper with contrast mesh quarter panels and tailored embroidery details.

A refined approach to an adidas Equipment classic, the EQT Support RF model receives two new treatments this season for men and women. The men’s iteration assumes a classic 90’s running materiel way, featuring a mesh construction with suede panels and welded overlay details. Rendered in a Carbon black colourway, it’s an understated approach that brings the classic adidas footwear design to the fore. For the women’s Support RF edition, a slightly altered approach counters a mesh vamp with nubuck panels and roller knit textile on the tongue and quarter. 

First Look: adidas Originals Tennis Hu ‘Pastel Pack’

For this ‘Pastel Pack’, Pharrell redefines a court silhouette through material and colour. Introduced this past spring, the Tennis Hu is Pharrell’s first-ever signature model, combining the clean profile of a court shoe with the proportions of a runner. 

The sock-like construction and lightweight, breathable mesh upper makes it this season’s most versatile, easy-to-wear shoe. Here, Pharrell has taken design codes from the Stan Smith and applied them to his own style. Inaugural colorways for the Tennis Hu include tonal iterations in Tactile Rose, Icey Blue and Linen Green, complemented by White colorways with accent details on the heel and tongue that unite the lighthearted palette of Pharrell Williams with the original adidas tennis aesthetic.

The Tennis Hu ‘Pastel Pack’ is available from AREA3, adidas Originals stores.

First Look: adidas Originals by White Mountaineering Fall/Winter 2017

adidas Originals and Japanese menswear label White Mountaineering reconvene for FW17, bringing Yosuke Aizawa’s inimitable aesthetic to a comprehensive range of adidas Originals footwear and apparel. True to White Mountaineering’s philosophy of creating an elevated technical product with an unparalleled sartorial touch, the latest collection presents a range of cold weather designs in a stripped-back seasonal colour palette, complemented by footwear of different silhouettes, including the NMD_R2 and NMD Trail. 

For the latest collection, Yosuke Aizawa’s signature aesthetic returns across a number of silhouettes including cargo pants and jersey pieces. Premium outerwear offerings include a Hooded Windbreaker reinterpreted with a technical design language. Each design is distinguished by signature paneled constructions and atypical 3-stripes placements in black, white and olive. 

Accompanying footwear to the collection continues the military theme with both classic and contemporary 3-stripes silhouettes. Returning, the NMD Trail steps out in a duo of colouways with reflective print details and a saw-tooth outsole for a better grip. Likewise, the NMD_R2 returns with essential paneled construction and signature 3-stripes details. 

The collaboration encapsulates the commitment of both labels to creating striking street-ready designs with an uncompromised performance edge. 

The collection is available from AREA3 in Braamfontein and astore in Cape Town. 

Futuristic and Transformative, adidas Originals NMD Marks the Next Chapter of Three-stripes Design

Designed for a nomadic lifestyle without boundaries, the NMD fuses iconic adidas Originals DNA with breakthrough technology. Micro-engineered BOOST™ and Primeknit fabrications meet a bold visual language that pays homage to moments from the brand’s collective memory.

This season the NMD_CS2 PK takes center stage with full-length BOOST™ and material innovation in the form of a one-piece construction in fully engineered Primeknit. Ever progressive, the product is crafted with a Shadow Knit technique and features the Japanese Sashiko stitching method, a form of decorative reinforcement stitching. Tonal uppers with engineered patterns are finished off with embroidered tactile colour pops, and a signature NMD heel pull.
 

Along with the NMD_CS2 PK, this season we see new iterations of the NMD_R2 featuring patterned Primeknit uppers and striking graphics for men and women. Along with footwear the pack also contains NMD accessories and apparel for men and women. 

NMD is available from adidas.co.za, adidas Originals stores, and selected retailers. 

First Look: adidas Originals | Pharrell | Tennis Hu

Hu is more than a campaign or a collection of footwear models, it represents a belief. Hu, a name based on the first syllable of ‘Human’, seeks to bring us together as people; celebrating both our cultural differences and our collective power.

The Tennis Hu pay tribute to the past, with colorways based on two of adidas’ most iconic tennis shoes. The white pair with green detailing is a homage to the Stan Smith while the yellow lacing, yellow sole, and golden heel tab are hallmarks of the Forest Hill, the 1970s court classic.

The Tennis Hu is a breathable summer model which boasts adidas’ key footwear technologies in an updated execution. The shoes’ white upper is constructed using flexible Primeknit.

Its distinct fabric texture continues on to the lightweight EVA midsole as pronounced waffle structure. The lacing system is built into the shoe’s body and the tongue features a suede tab with the adidas Originals insignia. For the Tennis Hu, adidas and Pharrell take the components of a modern, lightweight runner and cast them on a casual tennis model.

The adidas Originals | Pharrell | Tennis Hu  drops on Saturday, 6 May 2017, at selected retailers.