The Inside Story of adidas and Hender Scheme's Collaboration for S/S 18

Image via Adidas

COMPLEX: Now we've got the second season of the partnership, how have you developed the process further both practically and creatively from the first collection?

Ryan San: So this collection is still produced in Tokyo but the difference between the first collection is that they added colour that is true to the original adidas product. I worked with Japanese tanners that are very good at applying colours.

How have you managed to align the Hender Scheme approach to creating with adidas?

RS: So adidas has a theme called Futurecraft, they work on that themselves and they have new technology that they use, and Hender Scheme has different ideas and the tradition of craftsmanship so this collection tries to combine both worlds.

What are your thoughts on the history and craftsmanship behind the original three adidas silhouettes you’ve worked on?

RS: The Superstar and the Micropacer are two of the most iconic adidas shoe designs and what fascinating about adidas is that they have a very long history so to be able to work with a legendary brand and their designs is a great honour and I consider the NMD just as iconic. It will be a future classic.

Erman Aykurt: The three different models represent three different eras of adidas where an innovative product has broken through and transcended into a lifestyle use.

What are your overall ambitions for this collaboration?

RS: It's very inspiring for me to have access to the history and technology that adidas has and I hope that we can inspire and stimulate each other. I think it's important to see his collection as something that could inspire creativity.

EA: For us it's invaluable to work with someone like Ryan whose craftsmanship is at a pinnacle level and at the same time is sensible to our cultural context. It opens up a lot of new doors and helps us with the storytelling, how we perceive our own models, and gives us new angles to work with.   

How have you adapted to the evolution technology in your designs with adidas?  

RS: It may seem like we just made an existing model in leather, but when you have to make it functional and beautiful it takes a lot of adjustments because they’re different types of materials. It may seem like a simple application but it actually takes a lot of adjustment in the details. 

EA: What makes this product stand out so much is he takes industrial creative products and that means rethinking the entire construction of the shoe, applying the sensibility of a cobbler to what is otherwise created in an industrial setting and it brings detailed solution that inspires us and the consumer in the same way.