adidas Originals has collaborated with Canadian menswear label wings+horns on a brand new collection for SS17, reworking the iconic design language of adidas Originals to create a classic sportswear collection that blends traditional tailoring, contemporary fabrics and progressive design into a single visual mode.
Inspired by the enduring concept of clothing as a second skin, adidas Originals by wings+horns SS17 is a practice of form and function, creating lightweight, weather-ready apparel and footwear with striking visual appeal with credible practical applications, whilst a subdued colour palette of heather greys and blues reference the duality and diversity of the Arctic summer, a world made equally of dark and light, brooding and beautiful.
The collection’s synthesis of classic tailoring and modern sportswear sees the two brands delve ever deeper into the symbiosis of traditional craftsmanship and progressive perspectives. Understated design elements combine with an immaculate attention to detail to produce a premium collection of tonal apparel, accessories and footwear, whilst geometric paneling and asymmetric contrasts bring wings+horns’ unparalleled mastery of heather, marl and texture to the fore, channeling the stunning melting landscapes of the Arctic Summer. Subtle branding details such as luxurious 3-stripes embroideries and subtle hand-look heel stitching then underscore each piece with wings+horns’ signature organic aesthetic.
The collection’s apparel offers a comprehensive take on a classic-meets-contemporary wardrobe, presenting tees, jersey, outerwear, bottoms and accessories with progressive design adjustments. Highlights include the paneled construction of the WH Tee, the WH Tech Parka’s extended silhouette, the WH Patch Crew and WH Patch Tee’s striking geometric graphic motif and the made in Canada WH Pullover Hoodie, Firebird Field Jacket and Sweat Short, presenting the pinnacle of elevated construction techniques. Rounded off with a woven beanie and the utilitarian Helmet bag, the entire range culminates as a symbiotic relationship between the inimitable adidas archive and the limitless creativity of wings+horns.
Accompanying footwear applies this same philosophy of Archive vs. Progression to two 3-stripes silhouettes; the NMD_R2 and Campus 80. A fluid one-piece construction modernizes the classic Campus 80 blueprint, finished with embroiderd 3-stripes details and offered in seasonal grey and blue colourways. The NMD_R2 then assumes the visual mode of the collaboration, adorning a Primeknit iteration of the latest generation of NMD with the range’s signature geometric motif alongside a model constructed from a single piece of premium leather, finished with the shoe’s essential technical details.
The result of a co-operative approach to every stage of production, adidas Originals by wings+horns’ SS17 encapsulates the spirit of dichotomy that informs the collection, creating seamless unity of classic and contemporary; light and dark; aesthetic and application; form and function.
adidas Originals by wings+horns is available online and from April 27th.
