adidas "Court to Concrete - The Collective"
With the adidas "Court to Concrete" Pack, consisting of the basketball silhouettes adidas Rivalry 86 Lo and adidas Conductor Hi, adidas Originals takes a rather unusual approach to collaborations. But more on that in a bit.
Starting Friday, 07/28/2023 at 5:00 pm, both silhouettes will be available at our Overkill store in Berlin at an exclusive in-store event. On the official release date of 29.08.2023, you can also get both shoes in our online shop and in our Cologne store.
The two models mentioned originally come from the collaboration of adidas with the former NBA superstar of the New York Knicks, Patrick Ewing, who was under contract with adidas from 1986 to 1989. The Conductor was the premium product in basketball at the time. At DM 299, the performance shoe was pretty much the most expensive thing on the market in 1986. Ewing himself played all his NBA games in the New York Knicks colorway of this shoe at the time. However, since adidas knew that this price segment would be too high for many customers, they simultaneously brought out a similarly built, cheaper shoe. This was the Rivalry, which was available at the time as a high and a low version. To this day, both shoes are extremely sought after among collectors, as the adidas Ewing shoes also quickly gained cultural relevance and made a name for themselves both on and off the basketball court. Among people of the New York hip-hop, metal, and house scene, the shoes of the adidas Ewing collection were very popular. They were seen on the feet of musicians like Run DMC, Beastie Boys, and Anthrax, as well as in photos of legends like Jamal Shabazz and Janette Beckmann - both shoes became cultural icons, which led to the shoes being noticed in Europe as well.
To this day, on the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, there are few shoes that have had such an impact as the Conductor and the Rivalry. This pack pays homage to the era of exotic materials and glamour of hip-hop's first decade.
The Rivalry 86 Low celebrates a decade obsessed with "customized luxury goods" like fur coats and jackets made of snakeskin or with "fish scale" looks. The Rivalry's upper is mostly soft smooth leather. However, the toebox and tongue are made of fine suede. The mustache on the toebox, the three stripes, and the heel tab feature Italian faux snakeskin. Gold accents on the lacing, as well as a key chain modeled after the NYC Subway token, round out the Rivalry.
The Conductor celebrates both the shoe's reputation as a high-performance basketball shoe on the court, as well as its evolution into a fashion must-have on the streets of NYC. Color-wise, the shoe is a nod to the 1979-1983 NBA seasons, when the New York Knicks changed their team colors for the first time - from Blue/Orange to Midnight Navy/Maroon. The upper of the Conductor is made of white grain leather. Italian faux snakeskin was again used around the collar. The three stripes match the overlay on the toebox in color and material. They come in a slightly hairy teasel suede. Special attention is paid to the tongue label. It was designed in reference to 80s tickets for the New York Knicks. Additional details of this shoe again include the NYC Subway token inspired key chain, three pairs of laces, and a tissue paper designed specifically for this limited-edition pack and mimicking the original.
What's unusual about this collaboration is that for this, adidas went directly to the "OG collectors" to collaborate with people from that community. The group that came together for this project is the "Collective", consisting of Julia Schoierer, better known as Sneakerqueen- for her, it is already the second collaboration with adidas - Ernie Beckmann, aka Erniepunk, Tom 'Tommy Triggah' Römer and Scott Frederick. All four share a passion for vintage sneakers from the late 1980s and early 1990s and are widely known as collectors of these shoes. Their deep knowledge of sneakers, their cultural relevance, and the subcultures accompanying them is immense. They are made for this project, which they have earned through their indispensable work for the community.
Julia shares her knowledge with the community on her blog Sneakerqueen.de and by curating international exhibitions. Her interdisciplinary passion has made her part of the culture and sneaker industry for nearly three decades, both as a collector and as a creative, but especially as a representative for a diverse representation of women in the footwear industry - it's not only a men's thing.
Socialized by basketball and thrash metal in the late 1980s, Ernie Beckmann earned a reputation as a "sneaker historian," according to Hypebeast. As a freelancer on various blogs, including our Overkill blog, for various sneaker magazines and contributor to the publication of theTrue Originalsbook, Ernie is an integral part of the OG community. His extensive adidas collection and knowledge have helped bring various adidas models back to the market.
Tommy Triggah hails from the Netherlands and has established himself as a prominent figure in the world of sneaker culture. Starting back in the early 90s, Tommy has amassed an impressive collection of sneakers and other memorabilia that has made him a true connoisseur of street fashion. His keen eye for detail and flair for artistic expression have allowed him to collaborate with many renowned brands.
DeFY.New York was founded in 2007 and since then has become one of the most valuable sources of information on sneakers, music, art, and fashion. The site's founder, Scott Frederick, born and raised in Freeport, New York, has been a sneaker collector and music lover his entire life and has been a fixture in the footwear industry since the 1990s. His blog, Defynewyork.com, has twice been named one of the best websites for sneakers in the world by Complex Magazine and has been featured onFUSEandMSG Networksto a wide audience.
