adidas Collective pack - a closer look at some details

It's been 2 weeks since our Court to Concrete pack has released and I wanted to show you 
some of the details on the pack, that I really love:

This whole collection is supposed to be a reflection of the swagger found on the greatest 

catwalks of New York: Madison Square Garden (the 'Court' part is represented with our 

Conductor) and the subway (the 'Concrete' part is represented on the Rivalry model).

Both models come with a New York style subway token hanger to represent that.

Whether on stage, on court, at the sidelines or in the crowd, we wanted to nod towards MSG 

as a temple of sports, music and style with some details:

So we chose a game ticket of the New York Knicks playing at MSG that we found printed in 

the adidas New Arrivals US catalog of Fall 1987 and used it for a  paper-like tongue label.

Also the choice of exotic materials (the faux snakeskin on the accents of the Rivalry 86 Lo and the

collar of the Conductor) is a homage to the flamboyant looks on and off the stage.

Of course Patrick Ewing and his signature line were the most important reference and we thought a lot 

about how to honor his impact.

The tissue paper is reminiscent of the original tissue paper that was designed for the adidas Ewing 

collection back in the late 80s and I spent quite a few evenings drawing for it.

Since we were not allowed to use his name we decided to ad a little easter egg:

Hidden beneath the tongue label you will find Pat's old signature slogan 'UNSTOPPABLE' stitched into the tongue.

We also put a lot of work into re-writing the original booklet that comes with every shoe to 
give you a more personal experience, when purchasing these.

You should take a peek and check the details ;)

Hope you enjoy this little insight into all the efforts we put into these pairs!

The Collective - Court to Concrete Pre-Release at Overkill Shop Berlin

Last Friday Ernie, Tommy and I had the pleasure of celebrating an exclusive pre-release of 
our adidas collaboration at the Overkill Shop in Berlin.

The Store is right around the corner from where I lived for the past 20 years, so I prepared a 

little heritage exhibition with some pieces from Ernie's and my archive.

The event was a full success and I am so very grateful for the amazing turn-up!

There was a great mix of people, so many smiles my cheeks hurt the next day and Overkill was 

a super host by providing us with drinks, snacks, "Collective" branded ice-pops and a very special 

shirt and dust bag for the first few customers.

Thank you for everyone who came by and celebrated with us! 

All pictures after the jump 

The Collective - from Court to Concrete

I am stoked to finally show you what @Erniepunk @Tommy_triggah and @DefyNewYork and 

I have been working on for the past 2 years:

For this adidas collaboration, Ernie, Tommy, Scott and I have formed 'the Collective', 

a group of 80s lovers and collectors, to curate an exclusive release on some classics from the 

Patrick Ewing line. 

After countless hours, email and sleepless night 'the Collective' is releasing two pairs of shoes 

- an adidas Rivalry Lo 86 (yes they are a bit different to the ones you have been buying the past 

years) and a Conductor - this saturday the 29th of July 2023, worldwide in very limited numbers.

To celebrate the occasion we planned a little pre-release event at Overkill Shop this Friday, 

so everyone is more that welcome to come by enjoy drinks, snacks and music as well as a 

small heritage exhitbion to dive into the world of 1986 on the first floor.

Also there will be some VERY special limited collectors goodies at the pre-release for the first few 

customers who purchase a pair of the pack!

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop and there are few basketball shoes more 

connected to the earlier days of the movement than the adidas Rivalry and Conductor. 

My love for the Rivalry is generally known and I have similarly strong feelings for it's big technical 

brother the Conductor.
So I am head over heels we got to work on both silhouettes for this collaboration and bring in 

so many different cultural influences to this project.
The inspiration behind the remake of these two models is the late 80s, when they transitioned from 

court to concrete an hence the name of the pack.

In the next few days I will tell you a bit more about all the details and easter-eggish features, 

but for now I firstly want to invite everyone who is in Berlin to join and celebrate with us!

Of course this is a much bigger group effort, than just the four of us nerding out.

So a big thank you to @adidasoriginals for investing in us, but especially to @sventheguide for your trust, 

@tduffles202 for going all in on this, @tiffanycrewsss for holding on to all those ends of the many 

ropes and to Peter Gellert for helping us tie that final knot!

And last but not least, big up to @overkillshop and @maks_mit_ks_ for helping us rolling this project 

out to you all!

Slide through the photos I shot to check out our two shoes in combination with some OG pieces from Ernie's 

and my vintage apparel and memorabilia.

Photography/CD/Set design/ styling and whatnot: yours truly @JuliaSchoiererPhotography
Styling: Caiza Andresen / @caizacaizacaiza
H&M:Monica Karsai / @monicakarsai

Models: Fahrani Empel / @favelamunk & Bernard Koomzom @bernzbazillion

Login forward to see you all!