Feature: adidas x Olivia OBlanc

Look at where the branding sits. It isn't embossed into the leather or stitched into the tongue — it's printed on a strip of tape and run round the midsole, the way a parcel is labelled. That's the whole idea of this collaboration in one detail.

Who she is

Olivia OBlanc was a very new designer when adidas came to her — out of design school in New York and only a year into her own label. Her work is built on deconstruction: pulling garments apart and putting them back with the construction left showing, and cutting shapes that don't sort neatly into menswear or womenswear.

The first half of the collaboration, in autumn 2018, was apparel — workwear silhouettes rebuilt with the fastenings and finishes made deliberately obvious rather than hidden.

The shoes

Three styles arrived in January 2019.

Two were versions of the Hypersleek, both in white leather on a chunky platform. One carries the OBlanc name stamped into the shoe; the other mixes leather with textile and has the branding sewn in as a label on the outer side.

The Sleek came in a deep red, mixed leather and textile, sitting on a yellow rubber midsole made to read as construction tape — the same joke as the branding, told louder.

Three films

Rather than one campaign, adidas commissioned three filmmakers to interpret the collection separately.

Stephen Isaac-Wilson made Transit, moving between indoors and out, and the moodiest of the three. Ronan McKenzie made King, shot industrial and dim, with light catching the clothes like jewellery and the models moving slowly. Leonn Ward went the other way entirely — dancers, a fast track, and the most fun of the set.

One honest note

This was a 2019 release and we don't have any of it. If you're here looking for a pair, resale is where they are now.

What we currently stock is in our adidas collection.