We Gave Them A Thousand Back!

Fashion
Feature
6 minute read

Touching down in Soho to close out fashion week, we linked up with our friends at adidas as they celebrated Originals. Here’s what went down…

For over 50 years, adidas has kept it original. Growing from its sportswear beginnings, adidas has become a global cornerstone of style and culture; transcending pitch and court to mean something unique to everyone who dons the 3 stripes.

Celebrating the past but looking to the future, Greek Street Sports popped up in the middle of Soho. A pop-up installation and events space (huge vibe) designed to look at the unparalleled legacy of three key silhouettes: the Gazelle, the Samba, and the Superstar. With over 250 pairs shipped in from the adi-archive, the upper floor set-up was a deep-dive exploration of the journey that brought us here, told through products, campaigns old and new, and wild and rare adidas lore.

But downstairs was where the future got started…

Kicking off with a night of sheer vibes, we packed out the space with our community to celebrate the launch of the new adidas campaign ‘We Gave The World An Original You Gave Us A Thousand Back’.

A chance to get a first-look at the installation was set against a soundtrack of back-to-back sets from Hasani, Cesta, Keyrah and Ciesay. The vibes were aplenty, spilling out into the street until security sent us home. And we were just getting started.

Next, we put a Basement spin on the campaign and worked with three rising photographers within the community for a lowkey gallery installation. Superstar, Gazelle, or Samba: all icons of the footwear game which have each transcended their beginnings on the court, on the pitch, and on the track to become cornerstones of culture and style. Designed with intention, the decades of reinterpretation by the people on the street have given these adidas Originals their true meaning. With Rashidi Noah on Samba, Rei Delos-Reyes on Gazelle and Zaineb Albeque on Superstar, the photo exhibition showcased how adidas shows up in the here and now. Self-styled by muses of their own choosing, each photographer took an Original and told their own story.

Peep Issue 03 of The Basement Magazine (soon come) to check out their vision in print if you couldn’t come through.

Then things ramped way back up as we teamed up with none other than IG-archivist and last-word on all things UK grime @dametalmessiah to curate an exhibition celebrating the legacy the 3 stripes has within British music over the past 20 years.

Focusing on So Solid Crew and other pioneers of early grime, the exhibition featured iconic shots from famed photographers of the era, Simon Wheatley, James Pearson-Howes and Chantelle Fiddy.

Then the MCs got on the mic, and the cyphers went crazy. With a set from Travs Presents and special guests Uncle Mez, Kruz Leone, Chamber 45 and more stepping up to the mic, the energy was insane and felt like a cultural timestamp, firmly placing adidas in the heart of a next generation of underground music in the UK.

Videos to follow, but trust it was a vibe.

But every party needs an after-party, right? So we did up Basement one more time and shut down Shaftesbury Avenue with adidas CONFIRMED to put London on the map of their ongoing city series.

Taking over the Stone Nest, we celebrated Originals with a lineup of DJs pushing a new generation of UK sounds. Nosa, G33, Lala, and Sammy Virji set the tone, and the floor was alive from doors open ’til doors close.

Love to all you came through to celebrate with us. adidas gave the world an original, and you lot certainly gave them a thousand back. ’Til next time…

(And if you’re partial to an adi crep or two hundred, Greek Street Sports is open from 12pm every day until Monday 25th September.)