adidas Originals and Craig Green have announced that the first ever drop from their collaborative project will launch globally on January 31.
The sneakers were first debuted at Green’s spring/summer 2020 show during London Fashion Week Men’s in June 2019, capturing the design ingenuity and freedom to experiment that’s at the heart of both adidas Originals and Craig Green.
“Footwear is like a sculpture,” says Green. “There’s so much you can do with sneakers that you can’t do with clothing. It’s exciting to think of all we can create in this collaborative project with adidas Originals.”
The first drop of adidas Originals by Craig Green focuses on two new styles: CG Kontuur I and CG Kontuur II.
Each radically remakes two classic adidas silhouettes: the Kamada and Ozweego. One of Green’s key concepts was to replicate the sole in the upper of the sneakers, like the perforated front of the CG Kontuur I, as if punctured by its Kamada sole, or the deep-quilted stitch lines echoing the Ozweego sole of the CG Kontuur II.
Both silhouettes encapsulate the common design principles of both adidas Originals and Craig Green—to create innovative new forms that marry functionality with a desire to experiment through design.
Green, a London-based designer, has become globally respected for his singular take on menswear.
Each collection centres on ideas of utility, launching from this designs that leap across colour and cut, space and time.
The first drop will be brought to life in a campaign by Green’s long-term collaborator, Dan Tobin Smith.
The pair have developed a visual language that casts a forensic eye on each of Green’s collections, creating images that appear like shrines.
For adidas Originals by Craig Green, the sneakers have been deconstructed and turned into anatomical sculptures as if like small frogs.
CG Kontuur I will be available in black and navy, while CG Kontuur II will be available in black and grey. Both silhouettes will be finished with adidas Originals by Craig Green branding on the tongue and heel.
Further styles will be released in a future drop later in the season.