Adrian Siu: adidas 60 Years of Soles and Stripes
The iconic sportswear brand known as adidas celebrates 60 Years of Soles and Stripes with a global party launch.
Few brands have managed to develop such a strong and iconic legacy as Germany’s adidas. Throughout sporting history and spilling over into the lifestyle world, adidas has been there at every step with 60 years of memories to go along with it. In paying tribute to their awesome past, a series of adidas “60 Years of Soles and Stripes” House Parties kicked off just recently around the globe. Bringing a new and fun atmosphere to a once in a life-time event, the house party format allows for a rare chance for many to enjoy things in a dynamic and intimate setting. We had a chance to speak with Adrian Siu, adidas Hong Kong’s General Manager on some of his thoughts and insights pertaining to this upcoming party event and adidas’ plans for the year. The Hong Kong adidas “60 Years of Soles and Stripes” House Party kicks off on March 12th in a massive three-story venue.
Interview with Adrian Siu
Adrian, how did you get your start with adidas?
I joined adidas back in 2002 and was assigned the position of Commercial Director for adidas Hong Kong, responsible for the wholesale and retail business. Most recently, in May of 2008, I was appointed as the General Manager of adidas Hong Kong. I love the brand and am happy to see the adidas business grow continuously in Hong Kong over the past few years. I set out to make adidas the number one sporting brand in the Hong Kong which I feel has wholeheartedly been achieved.
What are some of your day to day duties?
Some of my responsibilities include heading up the marketing communications and product marketing. In addition, my role also pertains to steering the customer development and retail business of adidas Hong Kong. Many of these tasks can only be done with the help of a great team and that’s why I work closely with team leaders to ensure we are on the right track and moving on the same page on a day-to-day basis.
What does adidas 60th anniversary mean to you?
It means a lot, not only to me but I’m sure many adidas fans around the world. In 1949, adidas founder Adi Dassler first created and used his unmistakable 3-Stripes design on footwear. Despite the belief of many that this 3-Stripes motif was simply for aesthetics, the now iconic logo was originally integrated as a performance design for better lateral stability in footwear. For the last 60 years, the products and people that have donned the adidas 3-Stripes have cemented themselves as future icons of sport and style around the globe. 2009 marks the 60th anniversary of adidas’ 3-Stripes and is a key milestone in the brand’s development. It’s also a chance for us to pay tribute to our founder Adi Dassler. adidas Originals celebrates the past 60 years of originality with different interpretations of products, offering a broad spectrum of highlighted themes including a 60th anniversary range. These include “60 years of Soles and Stripes” plus a monumental women’s line with fresh coastal and summer offerings topped off by new partnerships with some great brands.
What sort of events can we expect from this monumental occasion? What sort of events do you expect in a birthday party? Birthday cake?
We have had large scale celebrations held in major metropolitan cities of the world to commemorate this special time in our brand’s history. Milan, New York and Singapore have already hosted their own “adidas Originals House Party” events in their respective cities. We at adidas Hong Kong will be having our own “House Party” on March 12 followed by other regional events including Taiwan. For the Hong Kong event, we’ve invited many influential trend-setters, key icons, artists, celebrities, socialites and many more who are fans of adidas to join our House Party celebrations. Some familiar and famous names expected to be in attendance are renowned Japanese designer Kazuki Kuraishi, the legendary tennis player Stan Smith and DJ Steve Aoki alongside local celebrities, Shu Qi and Jan Lamb. As a further additional element, which includes a birthday cake, we’ll also create a special adidas Anniversary Signature Drink created by 42Below for the party
With many regional parties on the horizon, does each country and its people have a different perspective on what adidas means to them?
I’m sure different markets have their own ways of celebrating and interpreting adidas’ “60 years of Soles and Stripes”. But the purpose of celebration is the same around the world – Celebrate Originality. For the last 60 years, adidas products and people have developed a timeless aesthetic and created an enduring respect. The brand comes into their life at different intervals and represents special moments, and different events which fall into place with the different eras in sporting history.
Any special footwear releases on the horizon as well?
A broad spectrum of highlighted themes featuring the core concept of “Celebrating the 60 years of Soles and Stripes” will slowly be unveiled this year (although some have already in the last little while). Back in February, we launched an outstanding collaboration between adidas Originals and three of the world’s most unique and creative streetwear and fashion designers to create the Originals by Originals collection. Jeremy Scott, Alyasha Moore and Kazuki Kuraishi each created a mini-collection of groundbreaking adidas Originals apparel and footwear products for men and women to express our “Celebrate Originality” philosophy. At the same time we are offering collections paying homage to our strong heritage with adidas Originals lines which include the Era Pack and Sneaker Journey. The well-rounded themes feature a journey along the history of adidas between the 50’s and 90’s. The Tournament Edition together with key Stan Smith models are a fitting tribute to our muse Stan Smith and his massively popular vintage court tennis sneaker. One last key product without going too much in detail is a luxurious diamond encrusted Superstar to celebrate our birthday in fitting fashion.
How has adidas been able to maintain relevance and popularity over the years?
We stay true to the spirit of “Celebrate Originality” by bringing great innovative products to the marketplace and offer something truly new and unique for our consumers. This coupled with visibility in the right sort of areas has had a profound impact in the past and moving forward.
