Continuing their collaborative output, Grace Wales Bonner has reached back into the adidas Originals’ archive to put her spin on the German sportswear label’s heritage styles.
Concluding a trilogy of collections, where SS21 and AW20 concentrated on the 70s, the designer’s lens focusses on the 80s for AW21. The garments are the result of a reflection on diasporic radical thinkers of the time. This includes scholars, poets, and artists that pioneered a postcolonial discourse from a non-western perspective.
Part of the British-Jamaican designer’s “Black Sunlight” collection, this collaboration brings those themes into the garments through 80s-inspired silhouettes and academia-oriented graphics. Notably, a burgundy and off-white long-sleeve top featuring an emblem of a fictional literary academy run by Wales Bonner and adidas Originals. This is dropping alongside a burgundy sun hat, a college t-shirt, and an orange knit sweatshirt complete with a contrasting v-neck.
A consistent fixture across the brand’s previous two collaborations, there is also a new take on adidas Original’s signature tracksuit. Coming in a blue “night sky” colorway, the track top has a cropped silhouette and crocheted three stripes branding which can also be found on the matching track pants.
Launching together with a Tyler Mitchell shot campaign, shown in the gallery above, nostalgia is formed through imagery taken on a summer’s afternoon. Creating an idyllic space of leisure where the themes of freedom and brotherhood are explored.
Available now at the Highsnobiety Shop, check out some of the products available as part of the Wales Bonner and adidas Originals AW21 collection below.
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