British artist Pochoir was among the collaborators in the recent adidas Originals 523 City Artist Series collection which released mid-last month. In an interview, he speaks about the background behind his Superstar as well as offering an overview of the designs of his fellow collaborating peers.

A continuation of adidas Originals’ Five-Two 3 campaign, the brand now offers a peek into a contribution from Tokyo, designed by Hectic’s main man, YOPPI. The set consists of a Samba sneaker and matching t-shirt, both taking inspiration from Tokyo culture. Retail for the sneakers is set at ¥13,650 (Approx. $157 USD) while the tee is priced at ¥6,195 (Approx. $71 USD). Both are now available through select adidas Originals retailers as well as realmadHECTIC.

Source: Cool Trans

The artist pack is a collaboration consisting of the five most iconic originals’ footwear models with 5 artists out of 5 of the most influential cities around the globe. New York, London, Paris, Milan and Tokyo. With all artists being inspired by their respective cities, plus their unique and diverse approach of creating outstanding art, the pack perfectly represents today’s mindset of combining local and global thinking. The artists contributing to the pack are Pochoir, MADSAKI, Dalek, Fakso and KRSN.

Superstar x Pochoir
For London, graffiti-artist Pochoir, an exponent of Dadaist principles brings his London street sign satire to a Superstar upper. A reflective, stone coloured upper with a subtle printed depiction of the jagged 3-Stripes and Pochoir’s work immediately evokes a city setting. The blue “POCHOIR 2008- painted here” commemorative plaque-style heel print and metal lace jewel is totally unique, with this shoe finished with a slightly speckled heel Trefoil and stenciled artist logo sockliner.

Stan Smith x KRSN
Artist and illustrator Jan-KRSN-Garet plays with his chosen environment, taking inspiration from 70’s and 80’s illustration, approaching his subject armed with sensitivity, irony and a definitive point-of-view. The resulting fruits of his work with adidas is a take on the bestselling Stan Smith silhouette with a ‘gold leaf’ print depicting several Fleur-de-lis, distressed gold printing on the heeltabs and an oversized depiction of Stan on the tongue, white metal eyelets and an off-white forefoot stitch. ‘adidas x KRSN Stan Smith Paris 1972’ lettering completes his footwear revision.detailing makes for a unique makeup, finished with a purple and gold sockliner.

Samba x MADSAKI
MADSAKI holds it down for Tokyo with a shapeshifting multi-discipline approach to art that refuses to be tethered, and his take on the Samba takes the soccer training shoe into new territories without losing sight of the shoe’s original appeal. A patterned soft leather lace cover in white, grey and black with a gold logo harks back to groundbreaking adidas runners while making the slim design even more bike-friendly courtesy of this onetime cycle courier. A reptile-skin effect leather upper, white contrast stitching, scrawled lettering and white highlighted midsole detailing makes for a unique makeup, finished with a purple and gold sockliner.

Nizza x Fakso
An artist, photographer and key documenter of rolling steel, revealing graffiti at its most uncompromising. Milan’s Fakso sees metal as a canvas, celebrating the tactics, technique and determination of the scene’s key players. On the ankle-high Nizza silhouette, the leather upper becomes a canvas, covered by a large graffiti image. The printed tongue, beige 3-Stripes and yellow bottom eyelet, foxing and rubber toe bumper sit on a black midsole, giving the silhouette the dark air of Fakso’s prolific output.

Forum x Dalek
Representing New York in the Cities Pack, James Marshall (Dalek) developed his well-known “Space Monkey” characters while doing street art and graffiti when he graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995. Working largely intuitively and organically, he allows each painting to become a new discovery, and the ongoing series of discoveries that helped to define his career have now led Dalek far beyond his beginnings when, right out of art school, he found a new way to merge street art, cartoons, Japanese pop, and the energy of the urban punk scene. His new work revels in a profusion and hyper-abundance of colour and planes of space; the familiar lines and iconic “Space Monkey” references that defined his earlier work are only a starting point for a new series of meditations on the push and pull of forces he sees in contemporary life.

Produced for adidas’ Five-Two 3 Campaign, Jason Markk develops a new cleaning kit to match the entire theme of the project. Much like previous kits, the sneaker cleaning set consists of a bottle of cleaning solution, brush, and cloth, all packed nicely in a miniature adidas shoe box.

Source: UrbanLook

The botanical pack is inspired by plants giving each silhouette a natural, fresh new look. The inspiration for this pack can be taken as evidence that ideas for great design are all around us and don’t need to be limited by the constraints of a particular sport or sub-culture, they can come from anywhere.

Previewing their upcoming Five-Two 3 Plants Pack, adidas Originals held its adidas Plants Exhibition at adidas Plantshouse on October 10-11th. The show featured works from Makoto Azuma, a Japanese artist synonymous for his works incorporating plants and flowers. The Plant Pack is scheduled to launch in November 2009. Stay tuned for further details.

As part of the ongoing Five-Two-3 series, Adidas have collaborated with Japanese label NEXUSVII on this ‘Track Top’ sports jacket. The design transforms a sportswear item into a fashion staple. The jacket comes in a restrained colourway with subtle brand detailing from the two fashion giants. A little more outlandish is the detailing: The jacket is complete with golden zips and NEXUSVII styled pulls. The jacket is now available from Adidas Japan in limited numbers.

Source: Honeyee

The Drawings Pack was inspired by using different artistic styles to re-interpret the characteristics of each classic silhouette. The pack explores the way that various artistic techniques can be utilised to create varied and highly differentiated, stylistic looks. Different techniques explored within the pack include ink, print, crosshatching and silver etching. Familiar footwear with a leftfield revision, these are a fearless shock-to-the-system that celebrates these definitive creations perfectly.

Superstar
The Superstar Vintage needs little introduction, still amassing appeal after nearly 40 years, and this slim, smoother shelled, low-profile favourite carries a fragmented silver etching effect on a matt-effect leather, illustrating, rather than stitching the 3-Stripes for a more streamlined appearance, and distressing the legendary ‘SUPERSTAR’ lettering.

Stan Smith
Intelligently bridging the gap between the Stan Smith Vintage’s much-loved minimalism and heavy detailing, a subtle mix of black and brown on the upper is complmented by a handicraft style, multicoloured embroidery around the trademark perforations and a white paint effect print on the stitching and eyelets to exaggerate this element, making for a distinctive reinterpretation of this bestseller.

Samba
Pared down to a ‘one piece’ look, every well-known detail of the legendary Samba training shoe has been rendered in a ‘sketched’ crosshatched pen and ink print on an off-white leather, down to the forked forefoot panel, tongue branding, embossed lettering and sockliner.

Nizza
Since its 70s introduction, the Nizza has crossed cultures, reflecting ensuing eras and absorbing a plethora of legendary looks. For this mid-cut, vulcanized addition to the pack, the familiar canvas upper becomes an artist’s canvas of bold ‘pop art’, depicting each panel and 3-Stripes in strong shades, with corresponding metal eyelets, red foxing and an appropriately illustrated sockliner.

Forum
The most recent design in the five-two 3 range gets stripped down to bare basics without any compromise, with a pared-down white upper, decorated with a black brushstroke look that incorporates every last detail of this hi-top early 80’s court titan. Even the toebox perforations and sockliner are re-applied for a look that marries abstraction with timeless technical basketball prowess.

Superstar Track Top
This version of the Superstar track top, one of the most distinctive adidas heritage apparel pieces, coordinates perfectly with the Drawings pack’s ‘illustrated’ Samba, in off-white with printed cross-hatch style imagery rendered in an intricate print on the sleeves and side panels. Completed with a hand-drawn effect Trefoil on the chest, it works perfectly alongside the corresponding footwear or as a stylish standalone everyday wear.

Continuing the meeting-of-minds the Five-Two 3 collection instigated with the Maharishi Stan Smith makeup, Maharishi’s expertise with technical fabrics and ‘decommisioned’ military history mixed with adidas’s heavyweight athletic heritage has generated a capsule collection of design classics that blends seminal shoe designs and apparel with premium innovation, painstaking levels of attention-to-detail and heavyweight thought processes. Blending a strong focus on visual appeal, while dwelling on timeless quality that’s built to last, this project amplifies the best of both brands as the ‘mahadidas’ XV collection celebrates 15 years of Maharishi with their trademark precision.

Since 1983, the Forum has defined 3-Striped court dominance, but with an aptitude for taking to more offbeat makeups, the chambray-style material on this mid-cut variation harks back to WWII regulation naval gear, complimented by a matching blue leather toward the rear. Subtle, contrasting embroidery sets things off perfectly, and this mixture of hardwearing military semi-formality with the timeless panels and imposing silhouette of a basketball favourite captures the current preoccupation with the historical and wearable aspects of workwear perfectly, finished with ‘mahidas’ branding, black metal eyelets, a correlating blue outsole, and a subtle dragon logo on the heel.

The Superstar track top is an instantly recognisable piece of adidas apparel that’s spanned decades, but reworked in a specially developed Baumwoll-Chambray, it’s the definitive mix of the Superstar design DNA with this equally timeless and premium material choice for a more rugged take on a favourite. Steeped in Maharishi’s mastery when it comes to the more esoteric side of military influences, this jacket is finished with a branded vision zipper and both partner logos split across the left and right chests, plus a final ‘XV’ collaboration print rendered in plastisol on the back and stripe branding down the arms.

The over-the-head fit of adidas’s Hooded Flock track top has been a seasonal mainstay, but that simple, staple look offers a blank canvas for a unique reworking, and Maharishi have collaborated with adidas to create a blue melange French terry specially for this garment that’s soft but resilient, complemented by navy stripes. Building on the top’s usual look and feel, this continues a collective mission to explore new approaches to clothing, pushing things forward without losing sight of the original appeal, completed with a Maharishi-branded vision zipper, plus plastisol chest branding and an ‘XV’ back print.

A fresh take on a favourite, the comfortable slim fit tee from Maharishi and adidas continues the quest for the perfect t-shirt, generating the ideal piece to wear out or as an undershirt. In line with the origins of the t-shirt’s trend-level popularity last century, a more fitted cut allows a more flattering, timeless look, rendered in a flecked blue melange single jersey developed for this special line of dual-branded products, with a plasticol project print on the sleeve and a ‘mahidas’ chest patch.

Japan’s PORTER brand is synonymous with great luggage, named after the diligent characters who handle more bags and cases than anyone else, and their orange-lined TANKER series has been part of the collection since 1983. PORTER’s take on the Nizza Hi uses a similar black padded nylon and orange lining to bring out the very best in the Nizza’s simple paneling. A zipper feature down the shoe’s heel takes the baggage theme one step beyond any standard collaboration, encapsulating the look perfectly while serving a utilitarian purpose in ease-of-wear. The vulcanized sole carries black foxing, completed with a gum outsole, and tonal 3-Stripes and the easily recognizable branding for both companies is highlighted on the tongue, acting as the stamp of authenticity on this perfect representation of PORTER’s bestselling blend of functionality, premium quality and the cutting edge, packaged in, what else? A special zip pocketed tote bag.

PORTER x adidas Five-Two 3 Nizza Interview

Can you tell us a bit about your role at Porter?
We’ve been creating bags and accessories as a design team of Porter which is own brand of YOSHIDA KABAN. Porter brand was launched back in 1962 and our iconic products Tanker made of MA-1 jacket material debuted 26 years ago.

When the project initially came up, what were your feelings/expectations about adidas?
I and Kazuki have known each other for a long time and he invited us to take part in this great collaboration project last summer. I remember we were very excited to work closely with the historical and sophisticated sports/lifestyle brand. We’ve spent almost one year on creation process for the footwear and bag since our early meeting with adidas Originals and we are very happy with the outcome of the products.

How does designing sneakers compare to designing bags/accessories?
Initial concept for this collaboration Nizza is how we can execute details of Tanker inspired by flight jacket on one of their most historical footwear. This project was our first experience of designing footwear. We chose the exactly the same fabric for black upper and orange lining as Tanker products, and both of them wonderfully fit in well with Nizza.

What are your thoughts on the Nizza model?
It is definitely one of the master-piece of adidas, easy to coordinate with any kind of bottoms, and truly evergreen design which is popular in every market on globe. In comparison to other models of Five-Two 3, Nizza is the most suitable model to execute concept and details of Tanker.

The kicks do an excellent job of incorporating the Porter aesthetic. How happy are you with the outcome?
The outcome of Nizza is totally outstanding and came with even better quality and appearance than we expected. We are very looking forward to how consumers around the world react to this collaboration product. This is the very first footwear products as Porter brand, so we are excited to see feedback from global audience.

Are there any accessories included with the sneakers?
We are manufacturer of luggage and thought creating packable shoes bag as accessories would be a good story for this collaboration. The bag measurement is based on adidas originals footwear shoes box, so people who bought the footwear can put them in the bag and can even bring back home without shopping bag.

What other plans does Porter have for the rest of 2009?
We’re now working on some special project for our 75th anniversary in 2010.

Any final words?
Taking part in this special project was very exciting and new experience for us, and we hope global audience will like adidas x Porter Nizza.

About PORTER
Launched in 1962 by Japan’s leading luggage company, YOSHIDA & CO. as their epoch-making private label, the brand was developed on the basis of the fact that the Porter, who bears and touches luggage continuously, knows more about bags than anyone else. The design mission of PORTER is to integrate authenticity into design technique at the highest level in order to keep on creating luggage that will be used habitually by their great number of devotees. Commencing with the TANKER series, which have been staple products since 1983, PORTER is now offering a number of various series every season that continue to set the benchmark in stylish, functional luggage.