Admirers of Mary Katrantzou‘s singular style can rejoice: The London-based designer’s second women’s collection for Adidas Originals has landed.
And with it plenty of zippy pieces and eye-catching shoes that pack her distinctive print-heavy fashion punch, albeit in sportier shapes and more budget-friendly prices. Five-figure beaded and embroidered dresses these are not, with footwear ranging from $75 to $180 and apparel starting at $60.
The collaboration, which hits stores and websites on July 17, is positioned as more of a lifestyle offering than a performance-wear line, but the athletic influence is apparent in styles such as the MK ZX Flux Tech trainer, which is decked out in a digi-floral print.
Under Katrantzou, the Superstar style, which is currently experiencing a Pharrell-backed revival, is also given the high-tech botanical treatment in the ’80s Shuttlecock version. And the normcore-influenced penchant for fashion-forward shower sandals is addressed with the Adilette Up flatform.
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Our search for the most striking après boxing gym, tennis court and lap pool look might have just come to an end.
FN spoke to Katrantzou about the collaboration, here’s what she had to say.
How does this collection differ from last season?
This season has all the elements you would want from a Spring Summer collection – it’s super cool, fun and vibrant! It’s incredibly wearable; there are fun separates like the structured embellished tee and shorts alongside short crepe tank dresses and pleated midi skirts. We wanted the pieces to really transcend the boundaries of day to eveningwear so that they can be easily incorporated into the summer wardrobe.
This season we also expanded our footwear offering – reimagining the classic Superstar in vibrant prints with symbolist motifs from my mainline AW14 collection. The Flux Tech has also been remade in pastel shades of baby blue, with an 80-s inspired athletic motif print and the classic adidas three-stripe in reflective pink. The classic Adilette is new to the summer collection too, with the addition of a platform and a touch of tropicana.
What was your inspiration for the prints and footwear design?
Our Spring Summer collection for adidas is a nod to 80s sportswear and fitness imagery from that decade. Sportswear paraphernalia are used to create abstract collages of figurative motifs.
The prints are bold and intricate; upon closer examination they reveal themselves to be collages of sports gear in action – a stopwatch, a tennis racket and a badminton shuttlecock! The symbolist motifs are a nod to my mainline FW14 collection but here it’s more playful, more colorful!
What have been some of the best things you’ve learned about sneakers from working with adidas?
Adidas are pioneers in textile and fabric innovation and I was able to fully appreciate this when we travelled to their headquarters in Herzogenaurach. It’s an incredible hub of creativity and their archive represents their technological evolution over the years.
The technology they work with to develop their range and maintain their reputation as front-runners in the performance wear market is incredible so I really felt that we could push the boundaries of what a capsule collection could be.
We both have a very distinctive brand identity, so it was important to marry the two and create a line which is a true blend of the two, so the first collection I designed for them was focused around the history of the adidas running shoe itself.
Click through the slideshow below to explore the new styles.
