Craig Green's Adidas Sneakers Are Finally Here

The avant-garde British designer has teamed up with the Three Stripes.
Image may contain Clothing Apparel Shoe Footwear Running Shoe and Sneaker
Adidas Originals x Craig GreenCourtesy of Dan Tobin Smith for Adidas

Adidas is really going for it this year. Within the month, the Three Stripes has announced collaborative projects with actor-style-god Jonah Hill and the lovingly bizarre influencer Kerwin Frost. (Plus, its ongoing Prada collaboration that was revealed late last year has continued to make waves.) And now, the first collaboration between Adidas and its latest collaborator—British fashion designer Craig Green—is finally being made available for purchase after debuting on the runway last year.

Courtesy of Dan Tobin Smith for Adidas
Courtesy of Dan Tobin Smith for Adidas

The collection focuses on two new styles, the CG Kontuur I and CG Kontuur II, which are Green’s new-age riffs on two classic Adidas silhouettes: the Kamada and Ozweego, respectively. (The Ozweego is the chunky running shoe made famous amongst sneakerheads and fashion diehards by Raf Simons.) Green is known for his high-concept design, and he has brought a little bit of that magic to his Adidas sneakers. “Footwear is like a sculpture,” Green says in the press release. “There’s so much you can do with sneakers that you can’t do with clothing.”

Courtesy of Dan Tobin Smith for Adidas
Courtesy of Dan Tobin Smith for Adidas

Now, that sounds like the kind of fluffy art-school language you expects from a fashion collaboration. Still, take one glance at the collection, and you can tell Green actually means it. Looking at the details—the perforated uppers, or the deep-quilted stitch lines—and it’s plain to see that he treats the sneaker design process as an art project. Like much of Green's handiwork, the sneakers are experimental and covetable, but also extremely wearable.

Courtesy of Dan Tobin Smith for Adidas
Courtesy of Dan Tobin Smith for Adidas

The world of high fashion sneaker collabs is usually considered Nike’s territory. While Adidas works with creatives of all disciplines (and a few high-profile designers), the Swoosh tends to focus on cultivating a deep roster of red-hot fashion talent. The fact that Adidas has landed projects with Prada and Craig Green hints at what we can expect from the brand moving forward. And if this first drop with Green is any indication of what is to come, Adidas is probably in for a pretty strong year.

Adidas Originals by Craig Green will release globally on January 31.

Courtesy of Dan Tobin Smith for Adidas
Courtesy of Dan Tobin Smith for Adidas