ADIDAS SPEZIAL EXHIBITION

 

Last Thursday 19.7.13 saw the opening night of the excellent ADIDAS SPEZIAL EXHIBITION held at the Hoxton Gallery in Shoreditch, East London. With an arsenal of around 650 pairs of three striped goodness on show, along with a host of celebrities who wear the trefoil on their sleeves, the night was a roaring success and a fitting way to open the exhibition in all its adi glory.

The private media preview was held mid-afternoon, giving us the chance to savour the delights of the ensemble of footwear history before the rush of the masses and the flowing of free beer later on. Over 8000 painstaking hours had gone into putting the show together from design to completion and the man who made it all possible, lifetime adi fan and long term employee of the brand, Mr Gary Aspden, was on-hand to curate the event and give us an insight into the ideas behind it all.

Gary ran us through his love affair with adidas and plotted out his life and that of his footwear, to the backdrop of the scenes he’s lived through, and with the brand following his life every step along the way. Robert Brooks, an integral part of the project and a man whose knowledge of the trefoil is as good as that of anyone we know, was on-hand to chat trainers as we walked round the venue and took in the vast array of original, reissue and collaborative product on show. Along with Gary and another of the major contributors, Mike Chetcuti, they took pleasure in answering our questions, like that of archaeologists walking us through their vaults of historic artifacts.

With so many shoes on show, all with their own story to tell, it was difficult to concentrate on one thing for any length of time, and impossible to take it all in with one lap. To see such a vast array of heat on show is insane, a fair few of which we could name, but many of which we had no chance without the help of one the experts on hand. With Size? playing such an important part in reissuing the archives of the brand over the past few years, it was a perfect compliment to see the retailer showcasing their deadstock SMU’s, UK exclusive reissues and forthcoming AW13 releases strategically placed in one of the cabinets towards the end. A fitting finale to such an amazing line up of footwear.

From then on in, it was a party. A party to celebrate the coming together of so many historical shoes under one roof, helped along by the presence of three of the brands most recognised ambassadors, Ian Brown, Bobby Gillespie and Run DMC legend Darryl McDaniels, to name but a few.

The ADIDAS SPEZIAL EXHIBITION runs from Friday 19.7.13 to Saturday 27.7.13 at the Hoxton Gallery in Shoreditch, East London and full details can be found on the flyer below. Enjoy the pictures from the night and make sure you check out the ‘Making of the adidas Spezial Exhibition’ video below too, for an insight into how it all came together.

Special thanks to adidas UK, Size?, Gary, Robert, Mike and everyone else that made it possible.