Adidas Originals brings the brand’s famous three stripes to the Metaverse. The sporting goods supplier from Herzogenaurach is launching an NFT collection of virtual clothing items.
The collection, which consists of sixteen digital pieces, belongs to a new product category from the company called “Virtual Gear”. The launch of this new category is intended to strengthen the company’s community-based, members-centric Metaverse strategy, Adidas said on Wednesday. The collection was designed by the in-house ‘/// Studio’ (“Three Stripes Studio”) with the aim of connecting “past and future, virtual and physical, communities and creators, culture and identity”.
The collection is designed to be worn by digital avatars. The clothing can be used in different virtual worlds and adapts to different Metaverse environments. The “Virtual Gear” is ready for all dimensions of Web3, according to the announcement. Visually, the clothing relied on futuristic, disruptive designs that nonetheless take up classic Adidas design cues such as the Trefoil logo, the iconic three stripes and different silhouettes of the brand’s sportswear. The collection also includes three items inspired by the brand’s previous Web3 collaboration partners: Bored Ape Yacht Club, Gmoney and Punk Comics.
“As a brand, it has always been important for Adidas to explore and push the boundaries of creativity to find what lies beyond,” said Nic Galway, Senior VP of Creative Direction at Adidas Originals. “Web3 offers our designers and collaborators a new way to imagine and redefine how our brand can be represented in augmented and virtual worlds. Creatively, we’re very proud that this virtual collection isn’t just a historic first for Adidas. It also represents an idea of wearable clothing that can transcend time and space, a community that is vibrant and diverse, and a level of utility that can be explored and even discovered as worlds and avatars take on new forms. “
Owners of an NFT from the Adidas Original NFT capsule collection released in May will be assigned one of the 16 new NFTs. To reveal this, they must “burn” the Capsule NFT. In addition, the “Virtual Gear” collection can be purchased on select NFT marketplaces.