In the footwear and apparel industry, brands can often churn out products season after season that simply fit into predetermined "target consumer" grids or fulfill a safely-planning retailer's request.
And then there's Jeremy Scott self-titled capsule collection with adidas Originals. Always looking to push the boundaries of footwear and challenge our traditional apparel dimensions, Scott enjoys unparalleled freedom with his line season after season. Now strongly moving into his third year, his newly launched ObyO Jeremy Scott Fall 2011 assortment of offerings is no different.
A key component of the brand's new "Iconics" campaign, it's the brash creativity of Scott and the fearlessness of adidas Originals that makes the relationship so strong. Because of the continued success of the line and the instant-hit models like the Wings and Teddy Bears, Scott was once again given a clean slate to design this season as he saw fit -- he wouldn't have it any other way. As you'll notice with several pieces from the apparel silo and new sneakers including the Bones, Panda, High Top Streetball and Camo Wings, the new range is classic unabashed Scott.
Last month, I had a chance to have a candid and wide-ranging chat with Jeremy Scott from the set of the "All Originals" commercial shoot. Read ahead for more on his decade-long relationship with the brand, his approach to design and what he thinks of the love / hate response his collections always evoke.
Nick DePaula: When did you first get in touch with adidas Originals and how did the relationship start?
Jeremy Scott: I was first approached to do a project called “! S!gned,” which was about ten years ago. They asked me to work on that, and for each person involved, we were tasked to create our own shoe. There was only a hundred pairs made, and they did distribution of fifty of them and I distributed the other fifty. I did a silk jacquard money print on the Forum [seen below], and that was the first thing that we did together. From that, we did some special shoes just for my shows, and then a few years later in 2006 we did the adiColor project with the Keith Herring Foundation. After that, we started talking about working on a continuing collection for apparel and footwear.
NDP: What was it about adidas that was attractive for you?
JS: What I love about adidas is they’ve always had a really organic connection to pop culture. It’s been about music, fashion and inspiration, and it’s always been very genuine in that sense. When rave culture was all about adidas, they weren’t freaked out about it, they said, “Ok, cool!” They even realized that their vintage logo has another meaning to some people, and when Run DMC said they loved adidas, they embraced it. I think that’s what’s really important about adidas, compared to nameless brands that I won’t get into that are kind of phobic of when pop culture embraces them. As compared to trying to be something called sportswear. Of course this is a sportswear brand, and it was founded that way and I don’t think anyone would ever dispute that Adidas Jeremy Scott License Plate, but that’s what’s cool about adidas to me, is that they have this really genuine and organic feel. I&rsquo Adidas Jeremy Scott Bone;m such a kid of pop culture and it’s such an inspiration to me constantly, so for me, that’s why I work with adidas. I really believe that, and it’s so genuine and engrained.
NDP: Since you launched your first collection, it’s included both shoes and apparel adidas jeremy scott leopard. What’s been the driving force behind the apparel for the past few years?
JS: I think it’s really important to expanding the whole vision. I’m excited to be doing shoes, because that’s something I don’t necessarily do on my own. Especially sneakers, and I’ve always loved icons. But Adidas Jeremy Scott Metro Attitude Hi, of course, I really love playing with all of the iconography of the brand, like the Three Stripes and the Trefoil. I love doing new things with the cuts, and I’m also fortunate that our company has such iconic apparel that other brands don’t have. There are very, very classic things here, and I love rifting off of that constantly, like taking a staple jacket and making a whole new contraption out of it basically. That’s something that’s so apart of my design DNA in a way. To see something and alter it, and I love that I have a lot to play with here.
NDP: When you guys first started talking about the footwear collection, did you have an approach in mind? Your direction is at times more abstract than what adidas Originals would normally do, of course.
JS: To a degree, sure. They came to me and said, “Hey, here’s carte blanch to design. We love what you do and we love what you’ve done with us on these other projects.” They all became such successes that it was evident to them that I love and respect the brand, but I also take it someplace that it hasn’t been before and that they’re not doing internally. Maybe that’s because it’s such a singular, personal vision. They really just wanted me to do something that continues on our past and it went from there.
NDP: When you designed the Wings model, which is definitely a model that people have really adopted, what was the concept behind that?
JS: Well, there was a few different ideas. First of all, I wanted to do something that brought a new volume to the foot.
NDP: That’s really interesting.
JS: Yeah, and I was thinking about how I could do that, and still not impede people’s walk. How can you bring the eye to a new volume, but not make it look like a clown shoe? I was thinking about this extension, and it just naturally gravitated to me as a winged shape. From ideas of Greek statues and antiquity, to the concept of basketball players flying through the air to do a slam dunk, all of those elements came together. I had used wings in my own work in periodic places, and it was always an image that I loved as an optimistic and uplifting image that people could have a good feeling about. There’s nothing sinister about wings. [laughs] I also liked the idea of making something that could be convertible. You could take it off, but I guess nobody really does. [laughs]
NDP: Exactly. Nobody takes it off.
JS: Yeah. [laughs] But that was the thought, to just always try and create something new.
