adidas Originals
The history of the adidas Superstar starts as much on the court as on the streets of New York. First adopted after the 1969 NBA championships, the adidas Superstar found its off-court home in the underground hip-hop scene, winning over rap legends Run D.M.C. and sparking countless creative collaborations. Shaped by culture into a bonafide icon, the adidas Superstar has now become the unofficial uniform of athletes and creators alike.
To celebrate the iconic Superstar’s 50th anniversary and storied connection to New York City, we created a multi-faceted marketing program anchored in New York Fashion Week designer partnerships, runway integration, influencer seeding and custom content. This platform provided adidas an authentic avenue to generate top-of-mind awareness among customers while strengthening the Superstar’s value proposition as the unofficial uniform of athletes and creators alike.
Designer Partnerships + Runway Integration
adidas was organically positioned at the forefront of NYFW through two (2) designer partnerships with next-generation talent Kim Shui and Private Policy NY. Each designer debuted their highly anticipated Fall 2020 collections styled with a selection of Superstars, capturing the attention of Fashion insiders and consumers alike. As part of the partnership, we sourced, negotiated, and secured designer talent Kim Shui and Private Policy, who integrated Superstars within one-third of their collections— 26 looks in total.
Kim Shui
Growing up in Italy and having lived in the US, UK and France, Kim Shui draws upon her multicultural background to transform and assimilate diverse impressions and techniques. She’s a member of 2019’s Forbes 30 under 30, boasting celebrity clients includingKylie Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Solange Knowles and Cardi B. Since her debut on the V-Files runway in 2016, her colorful statement pieces have been featured in Vogue, The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, W and Interview.
Private Policy
A New York based genderless brand, dedicated to the city’s rebellious stile and fierce free spirit. The house believes that fashion is not just a pretty thing, it is, more importantly, a media to inspire people. Celebrity followers include Billie Ilish, Kendall Jenner, Teyana Taylor, Bella Hadid, Tan France, and Rita Ora.
adidas received brand inclusion and a special thanks in invitations, press releases, and show programs. Kim Shui and Private Policy's Haoran Li + Siying Qu wore the classic Superstar colorway—white leather with black strip— for their final bows delivering additional branding and exposure for the brand.
As part of the agreement, Adidas received five (5) front-row and ten (10) premium invitations to each runway show to entertain executives, brand ambassadors, VIPs, and consumers via a giveaway on the Creators Club app as well as a private back-stage tour and champagne meet + greet with the designers. Thankful to be partnered with a brand that celebrates young New York based creatives, Kim Shui and Private Policy NY organically expanded the reach of their adidas partnerships beyond the physical runways with multiple social posts yielding 1.1M+ organic impressions with a 2.17% engagement rate.
Influencer Seeding Program
To generated social awareness for the adidas Superstar’s 50th anniversary, we executed a strategic seeding program that targeted young, influential tastemakers who sat at the intersection of fashion, art, and music. By placing Superstars onto the feet of fashion influencers, industry insiders, and members of press, we created an opportunity for organic talent endorsement and earned social placements.
In total, one-hundred (100) pairs of adidas Superstar’s were sent to designers, models, musician, and top content creators. We designed and sourced the production of all product packing including co-branded tape, a limited-edition logo lock-up (adidas and NYFW) dust ruffle, and custom note card. On-line sentiment for the gift Superstars was overwhelmingly positive yielding 25+ user-generated Instagram and TikTok posts and organic talent endorsement including:
Leandra Medine (@leandramcohen)
Christina Caradona (@troprouge)
Alana O’Herlihy (@lilmami_lani)
Ashley Armitage (@ladyist)
Portis Wasp (@portiswasp1) ...among others
Custom Content Campaign
For the accompanying custom content campaign, we worked with photographer Alex Cruz (@alexcruz.nyc) to shoot five (5) New York based creatives each illustrating how they navigate NYFW in their adidas Superstars. Talent included model Alton Mason, musician Maliibu Miitch, journalist Alyssa Coscarelli, artist Jay West and designer Kim Shui. Each deployed one (1) in-feed post across their highly trafficked Instagram accounts connecting their individual experience to the broader #adidasSuperstar and @adidasNYC social conversations. The campaign generated 1.1M+ impressions and 30K+ engagements with an engagement rate of 2.78%.
Alton Mason
A model and dancer originally discovered via Instagram in 2015. His first major modelling job was for Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 2 collection in February 2016. The following year, he presented Gucci’s Cruise 2018 collection and appeared in the house’s 2017 Pre-Fall campaign. Mason has walked for Heron Preston , Louis Vuitton and Off-White, and has been featured in magazines such as L'Officiel Hommes USA and V magazine, for which he appeared alongside Lizzo on the cover. Most notably, Alton walked in Chanel’s 2018/2019 Métiers d’Art show becoming the the first black male model to walk for the luxury house in its then 108-year history.
Maliibu Miitch
Born in North Carolina to a Vietnamese and Filipino father and an African American mother, she moved to New York at the age of three. Within seven years of first picking up a mic, she’s gone from battles on neighborhood corners to being hailed raps next rising star. Pulling inspiration from 50 Cent, Nicki Minaj, and Jadakiss, Miitch breakout mixtape Maliibu Miitch Top 5 notched acclaim from Paper, The Fader, XXL, Complex, and Hypebeast, who claimed, “Maliibu Miitch is the realest rapper in the game right now.”
Alyssa Coscarelli
Alyssa Coscarelli is best known as a digital content creator who rose to fame from her highly acclaimed Instagram account, @alyssainthecity. She worked as a fashion market editor for the fashion, style, and beauty website Refinery29. Since leaving her post in 2018, she has since written for notable outlets including Harper’s Bazaar, CNN Style, Fashionista, and The Zoe Report. She has also partnered with a range of brands including on ambassadorships including Burberry, Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs, Neiman Marcus, Moda Operandi, Farfetch, and Gucci Beauty to name a few.
Jay West
Jay West is a contemporary artist from Harlem, who is quickly gaining recognition as one of the most promising young painters in the world. West's brilliance lies in “mixing opposites” embodying “tales of defeat and triumph” as well as oppression and celebration. He subverts the grandiose aura of art history through his adaptation of pop aesthetics (e.g. cartoon characters and technology) using the expressiveness of abstraction, surrealism (often religion and Greek mythology), and the stylistic rendering of graphic illustration.
