Introducing adidas Originals global retail concept: ‘The Collection’

adidas Originals

adidas Originals Retail & Interiors Fashion & Apparel Footwear Japan Tokyo

Global credibility and local relevance

adidas Originals, the brand which effortlessly influences fashion, streetwear and sport culture needed to create a consistent DNA for its global retail experiences. Together with adidas's global design team, we created a retail concept powerful enough to resonate with streetwear tribes and cultures around the world. This retail concept can flex across multiple global markets and store formats. Today The Collection is appearing in standalone locations all around the world, and we’ve brought it to life in both Tokyo and London.

The design inside is inspired by Japanese aesthetic principles and adorned with locally curated artwork and vintage furniture

Found on the much-photographed Shinjuku crossing, the flagship in Tokyo is the largest adidas Originals store in the world.

Curating the best of streetwear

The task was to design a powerful global retail concept which would work across markets, store formats and local streetwear cultures. adidas Originals wants to create powerful destinations for sneakerheads and streetwear purists to gather. More than just ‘shops’, these are places that become a conduit for fashion/streetwear culture, wherever they appear globally.

Set over three floors, it’s designed to appeal to every kind of Tokyo’ sneakerhead, from new fashion and culture fans to seasoned sportswear aficionados

From the archive to the streets of Tokyo

The Collection concept is directly inspired by the famous adidas brand archive at the brand’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany. This contains adidas Originals products, together with the cultural reference points and collaborations which have inspired generations. We visited the adidas archive to draw inspiration about the past, present and future of the adidas Originals brand and developed the concept with adidas Originals global design team. We then took The Collection and brought it to life in a standalone store in Tokyo, the global streetwear capital as well as within London’s main adidas flagship.

The flagship is the most digitally advanced retail experience for Originals to date. It includes a 3rd floor luxury lounge and outdoor terrace

The internally illuminated archive racks are both a key destination and an effective visual merchandising system which not only showcase collections in an elevated way but also direct traffic through space to the iconic footwear wall – first designed for the Hanbury Street Store in London.

Streetwear as art

The Collection takes in the past, present and future of the brand, inviting people to discover adidas Originals. It positions iconic pieces on minimal gallery plinths and uses archive fixtures which present past, present and future collections as artefacts, in a slick luxury ambience.

A hype wall and flexible art gallery spaces allow fans to gain exclusive and pre-launch access to new and future products. A connected experience, visitors can use mobile payments and use the app to gain VIP access to in-store events.

“We mixed cultural influences with future-focused technology, contrasting the familiar with the unexpected.”
Joe Evans, Creative Director, Checkland Kindleysides