AVAVAV's adidas Originals Collab Is Wildly (and Intentionally) Unathletic

During September’s Milan Fashion Week, Beate Karlsson’s AVAVAV debuted a sprawling collaboration with adidas Originals, in which the tongue-in-cheek label (one known for its viral tricks) toyed with the German sportswear label’s iconography with its signature subversions. Now, that collection, which was full of experiments, illusions and breakthroughs, is about to hit global storefronts.

On a track-inspired runway (where models hilariously attempted to break the 100-meter world record), the AVAVAVificiation of adidas Originals looked like so: trench jackets were cut short; puffer jackets were exceptionally large, and hooded form-fitting tops were avant-garde enough for a Berlin club. Some models pulled tricks on the eye, “wearing” adidas track jackets that were actually just painted directly on their bodies. Elsewhere, the signature Superstar sneaker was transformed with a shell toe hosting AVAVAV’s four fingers motif, while caps and hats were similarly decorated with dangling finger-shaped cut-outs, or Karlsson’s version of adidas’ Three Stripes.

At the time of the spectacle, Karlsson said it was a long-time dream of hers to partner with the sportswear giant. “I’m honored and beyond happy to have the opportunity to play around with their incredibly strong DNA—it’s so much fun,” she said. “From the beginning of our partnership, I was encouraged to ‘make fun’ of adidas. There’s so much irony in how seriously we take both sports and fashion and exploring that while maintaining a serious attitude has been incredibly fun.”

Ahead of the collection’s launch, AVAVAV has put together a campaign titled “The Worst Game You’ve Ever Seen,” which stars a cast of models wearing the line while competing in the least athletic football game you could possibly imagine. There’s that irony Karlsson speaks of.

The AVAVAV x adidas Originals collection will launch online and in adidas’ stores on November 21. Take a look at the lineup in the gallery above.