Adidas goes colorful with retro style upgrade

IN EVERY closet and on every pair of feet in well-heeled Manila is at least one pair of sneakers. By now, you’d know that sneakers aren’t just for gym class anymore; they’re taken everywhere from the dance floor to the boardroom. Sneaker culture has exploded into such a phenomenon that superstars like Kanye West, and high fashion brands with a capital “F” like Balenciaga have taken to the challenge of designing their own lines.

Last week, multi-brand retailer Sole Academy opened up the Think Tank, a space for pop-ups right outside its Bonifacio High Street store. The pop-up, its first, launched the revived adicolor line from adidas, which used primary colors which it calls Bluebird, Fairway Green, Scarlett Red and Sun Yellow for the collection on a very classic design first seen in the 1970s, and which has appeared again in 1983 (when, according to a release, all-white adicolor shoes were presented alongside a set of felt-tip pens) and 2006. “Taking inspiration from the past collections, the SS18 offering plays with these iconic shades and creates tonal ensembles to render a palette relevant for today,” explains a press release.

The new collection “offers a curated archive selection with the most influential adidas silhouettes of past decades in a selfreferential play.”

Aside from at Sole Academy, adicolor is also available at adidas Originals stores, other retail partners, and at adidas.com/adicolor.

Sole Academy began in 2011 in Quezon City near Ateneo de Manila University, built by five ballheads — Mike Maglipon, Carlo Trillo, Jojo Hizon, and Mark and Martin Reyes. According to Marketing Director and cofounder Mr. Trillo, who was appropriately dressed in a green hoodie, the last time they did a project outside the store was in 2015, when they held a Sneaker Carnival in two parking lots of the SM Mall of Asia complex, with the aim of making “their mark globally.”

“We wanted to make Manila a sneaker capital of Asia,” he told BusinessWorld.

The pop-up at Sole Academy’s Bonifacio High Street branch will stay on for two weeks starting Jan. 20, and new releases from brands will be featured in the pop-up over the next six months.

The enthusiasm for sneaks runs deep in the Sole Academy’s founders’ veins: apparently, their obsession with the footwear came from their years on the basketball team of De La Salle Zobel, and they’d get their parents to buy them limited release sneakers from abroad.

Now, in 2018, the boys now carry nine brands in the store, namely adidas, Asicstiger, Jansport, New Balance, Nike, Palladium, Puma, Reebok, and Saucony, as well as limited releases from these brands. The company also has four locations, spread out from Alabang to BGC in Taguig City to Quezon City. They have also opened Sole Mini, a spinoff dedicated to children aged one to 9 years old. This year, the company plans to open its first branch outside Manila, in Cebu, and is in talks to open branches around Asia.

Trying to explain the boom of sneaker culture in Manila, Mr. Trillo said: “We’re a basketballloving nation.”

“Aside from [that] climate, you see that it’s something people can wear throughout the week, or throughout the year.”

While most of the crowd during the Friday launch were from the young and beautiful set, he said: “Sneakers go beyond age,” citing that earlier last week, a 70-year-old popped into the store to shop for a pair.

“I don’t think it’s a trend. They want to be comfortable. They want to look good.” — Joseph L. Garcia