One step forward: adidas x James Harden
The adidas x James Harden phenomenon – let’s just call it what it is – is perhaps more perfect for both parties than we realize. Specifically, Harden is the man the Three Stripes brand needed to challenge them. This challenge is likely to be the reason why adidas is looking at a sparkling 2018-2019 on-court campaign.
For context, let’s take a moment to consider the sort of industry climate that adidas has been dealing with. Despite its overwhelming stature in the sportswear and sneakers game, adidas has been playing second fiddle to Nike for longer than anyone can remember. In fact, the last time Nike wasn’t crushing the whole game was well before the Air Jordan 1 first released.
But, we have to give credit where it’s due. Through some subtle and impressive design, adidas manages to claw themselves back up via a seemingly sudden trend: athleisure. Footwear, as well as the fashion industry as a whole, began to find itself quickly shifting away from purpose-driven designs.
It no longer made sense for consumers to spend money on separate outfits for casual nights out and hard work in the gym. Fashion with no function and gym wear that was downright unwearable outside of the weight room? No one had the time.
adidas strikes back
The Three Stripes brand responds in a big way, taking on collaborations with some of the biggest names off the court. The brand that took on the services of Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett was now looking towards Kanye West and Raf Simmons. The argument for performance wears being equally competent as style items was now non-negotiable and adidas was adjusting in a resounding way.
They did, however, have one blind spot. Unfortunately for adidas, this wasn’t a small omission. Though they were beginning to ride their own cultural wave via plenty of Boost runners and Yeezy drops, their basketball offerings looked to be falling flatter every year.
It’s worth noting that adidas’s revenue from their basketball offerings hasn’t been exactly in the negative. Sure, they’ve struggled against Nike, but who hasn’t? What was much more concerning was their lack of cultural capital. The brand simply couldn’t draw the sort of hype and attention to their basketball releases that they’d aimed for.
What’s more, Nike was all over this detail. #LeBronWatch motored through Instagram, every Kyrie release campaign seemed optimized for social media, and even the retired Kobe Bryant garnered strong online impressions. How was adidas ever going to catch up?
James Harden steps in
Well, the first step was to understand the actual problem at hand here. It seemed painfully clear after a while that adidas just didn’t have Nike’s intangible reputation because of something very tangible: style. The Three Stripes brand is notorious for putting out basketball shoes that seem to not even care that they look like something from outer space, and not in a good way – we’re looking at you, Kobe 2!
Again, it had to meet the standards of the athleisure trend. Basketball sneakers can’t get away with being completely performance-minded anymore. Luckily, adidas had a few ideas. When they signed a post-Nike Kanye West to his lucrative deal, adidas wasn’t talking too much about basketball.
As we learned more recently, Kanye, on the other hand, had performance shoes on his mind. The Yeezy brand is reportedly working on a line of performance sneakers, including on-court kicks that boast West’s signature flair. But they needed more. West wasn’t a hooper, after all.
Enter James Harden. From day one of his huge $200 million contract, the man known as The Beard was making it clear that things were going to be different with his signature shoe. No more awkward builds and rushed aesthetics. Sure, there would be plenty of Boost and all of the performance elements as expected, but there needed to be some style as well.
James Harden was never going to be able to settle for whatever design was put in front of him. He’s a shining example of the modern signature basketball star, the current peak of the post-Kobe world of basketball shoes.
Much like Bryant before him, Harden is obsessed with perfecting his shoe. But, there’s a key difference between how the two superstar guards approached this process. Kobe was ultimately going to lean towards performance more than anything else. In fact, the aesthetics themselves were often mostly coincidences, the by-products of on-court performance design.
In contrast, The Beard wanted his shoe to, in his own words, “have swag, bro.” This meant more keying in on the actual visuals, the fashion sense behind the shoe. Considering the fact that Harden himself is something of a fashion icon, this should come as no surprise. In fact, the NBA’s reigning MVP even approached the adidas design team with pictures of what’s been inspiring him lately: bold, graphic Versace t-shirts.
That the sort of thinking that informs the look of the latest from Harden’s adidas line, the Harden Vol. 3. To be sure, the performance characteristics are taken care of here. Full-length Boost sits on top of solid traction via a herringbone setup. A strap around the midfoot also allows an increase in stability and support.
But, again, the shoe is looking to capture your eye too. The first colorway of the Harden Vol. 3 is nicknamed “Voyager,” representing the Rockets All Star’s voyage to bring a title to Houston. The silver sheen works well with this minimalist upper. Much like adidas’s Ultra Boost and other running models, there’s little fuss about the upper’s look. Some Three Stripes branding on the heel and that’s really about it.
Harden’s partnership with adidas is about to hit a very fruitful time as the NBA season commences shortly. The league goes into its first year of allowing players to wear any colors on their sneakers, regardless of team colors. This brings about a potentially wild year for the NBA in terms of bold styles and imagination.
There couldn’t possibly be a better time to be with the inspired endorsement services of The Beard.
Discover more about adidas and James Harden. Check out the select models now available.
