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Chapter 2: How Collaboration Brings Back Hype for Sneaker Models

A glimpse behind the scenes of the sneaker phenomenon Ft Sneakerhead Salty Egg

Image Courtesy of adidas

Forging Community Connections Through Cross-Category Collaborations

The sneaker sphere’s seismic sway across street, sound and style

The roots of sneaker culture can be traced back to the African American communities of the United States, where this unique footwear served as a means of leaving an indelible mark within the mainstream. Now, a new generation of young Chinese consumers are embracing the sneaker as a powerful tool for self-expression, cultivating their own distinct cultural communities in the process.

As Ricki Cai, a sneaker product manager in Shanghai, eloquently observed, “Sneakers have long held immense popularity within the African American community, who have viewed them as a vessel for carving out a distinctive identity within the broader culture. Today, the youth of China are endeavoring to do the same, using the sneaker as a medium for asserting their own unique perspectives and affiliations.”

adidas Superstar 35th Anniversary Mini Museum Collection

Image Courtesy of spotlight 

When the song 'My Adidas' resonated through the crowd in 1986, AdidasAdidas executives witnessed the audience enthusiastically holding up their AdidasAdidas sneakers.

In the 1980s, as the Adidas Superstar gradually faded from the competitive sporting arena, it evolved into a beloved vintage silhouette. In 1986, the pioneering hip-hop group Run DMC collaborated with Adidas, releasing the iconic track "My Adidas" and ushering in a new era of wearing the Superstar with the laces untied. This defiant fashion statement effectively countered the external perceptions of the shoe as being associated with "prison inmates."

"When the song 'My Adidas' resonated through the crowd in 1986, Adidas executives witnessed the audience enthusiastically holding up their Adidas sneakers. This pivotal moment ultimately paved the way for the first-ever $1 million endorsement deal between the hip-hop world and a major brand." - TRAPITAL

Jordan 1 Retro High OG SP x Travis Scott Mocha

adidas X Pharrell Williams Humanrace Samba Sneakers

Smaller Designers and Larger Brands Collaborations

Boundary-pushing collabs take center stage

Brands have also taken notice that the sneaker collaboration isn’t the be-all-end-all that it once was. Several leading brands, such as ASICS, New Balance, and adidas, have brought creatives they would normally have collaborated with in-house.

Smaller brands benefit from the hype of the sneaker market and the resources that the sportswear names offer, while the latter get to leverage their cultural clout.

adidas x Wales Bonner

London-based Wales Bonner first launched its collaboration with Adidas in 2020 with a collection of ready-to-wear that melded Grace Wales Bonner’s Caribbean heritage and tailoring influences with the sportswear giant’s codes.

Bonner’s take resonated with the fashion community, and they subsequently sold out, eventually landing on resale platforms like GOAT with four-figure markups. Alongside the Samba, which Wales Bonner helped to revive, contributed to a higher than average €5.5 billion revenue in the first quarter of 2024.

Bonner’s take resonated with the fashion community, and they subsequently sold out, eventually landing on resale platforms like GOAT with four-figure markups.

The ongoing partnership has helped her reach a global audience that might have been unfamiliar with her work. According to Anita Balchandani, senior partner of McKinsey “For both parties, it’s about a new customer group”. But, beyond sell-out takes on classic trainers, there is an appeal that exists outside products, where the cultural relevance of the collaboration is reflected through-in-depth storytelling, a lasting marker of the collaboration.

To sneakerhead Salty Egg, he states that there are two things that make a collaboration truly successful - “Something that is completely novel and new, combined with a deep and captivating story; something that is widely known, but not easily obtainable.”

adidas x Sporty & Rich

Kiko Kostadinov x Asics

Nike x Sean Wotherspoon

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2024-09-19 00:01:00.0