Adidas Consortium – Your Story – Part 2
Available this Saturday (16.6.2012) Check www.solebox.com
BC × adidas Originals
adidas Originals has created
the tenth shoe of the collection
to celebrate their 20th year of
involvement with the Olympics
and an understated sneaker has
emerged in the form of a BC silhouette.
Inspiration is taken from
the original Olympia with a simple
black and white colour-way and
tongue construction. Additionally,
this version features Olympic ring
inspired lace tips.
With Consortium’s select materials,
the shoe feels instantly
premium, but what makes this
BC MMXII ultra special are the 20
sockliners that have been created
marking 20 Olympic years with
adidas, with images of key performance
silhouettes from each year.
Every pair will be assigned two
random liners out of the selection.
Decade Hi × Stefan Glerum
Illustrator Stefan Glerum
represents Amsterdam with his
rendition of the Decade Hi for
Consortium SS 12 and his own
tongue-in-cheek approach is
evident. At first glance the exterior
reveals a fairly subdued sneaker
with a navy and white colour-way
and a pop of red around the ankle
collar. The upper is a combination
of nylon and soft leather giving
it added texture while the three
crosses on the tongue are inspired
by the Amsterdam city flag.
Bringing some humour to the
sneakers are Glerum’s tucked
away illustrations. The outsole
features part of a drawing of a
fuller-figured woman pole-vaulting,
while the sockliner is a full
version of the image capturing her
in the amusing moment.
Pro Shell × Kara Messina
Perhaps one of boldest
interpretations for Consortium
SS 12 and one with some
serious attitude is the Pro Shell
by Kara Messina, London designer
and creative director of men’s
streetwear label Y’OH. There’s
a strong synergy with Messina
and the Pro Shell model; each
has carved their own place
in streetwear history.
Most of the upper is made
of engineered fabric with
a traditional African print in
leopard colours, and for Messina
this conjures thoughts of
competitiveness and the multi
cultural presence in both
Olympics and everyday London
life. The print continues through
to the laces and velcro strap, while
the rubber toebox and supersoft
leather heel patch and side panel
tone it down slightly in black.
The sockliners display ‘Peace
Brother’ as a message of courtesy
and sportsmanship
Matchplay × Viktor Tell
Creative Director of Happy Socks,
Viktor Tell, teams up with adidas
Originals to create his own fun
version of the Matchplay. From the
outside the silhouette looks low
key with its mostly white canvas
upper, but it’s the small glimpses
of detail on the heel tab, ankle
padding and inside the shoe that
tell both the Olympic and Happy
Socks stories.
The Stockholm native took
inspiration from a Swedish air
pistol champion, and this
is achieved along the 3-stripes
with bullet hole inspired dots.
On one of the sockliners is a
Trefoil target marked LUFTPISTOL
(air pistol) and the other features
a lid for bullets. The ankle
padding and underside of the
tongue feature more brightly
coloured dots that make it
characteristically Happy Socks.
ZX 500 × Shaniqwa Jarvis
Personal memories are infused
into the ZX 500 designed by
photographer Shaniqwa Jarvis,
who as a child was a swim team
member training for the Junior
Olympics.
The upper is predominately
swimming pool blue in a premium
suede finish, partly perforated
to add texture with a brown suede
heel tab to reflect Jarvis’ local
pool, including the wall tiles and
lane dividers. A set of laces
accompany the sneakers with dip
dye effect ends, inspired by the
lane dividers in bright contrasting
colours.
The vintage silhouette is given
a modern twist with the neoprene
tongue, while the white and blue
midsole remain true to its sports
heritage. Shaniqwa’s autograph
is tucked away on the inside of the
tongue’s fabric loop tag.