One space, many rhythms

The ASICS GEL-KINETIC FR moves through a sequence of moments where motion and pause belong to the same experience. A few quick steps. A stop. Looking around. Checking a map. Taking a photograph. Moving again.

There is no clear division between the journey and the destination. The surroundings change with the people moving through them: concrete, steps, warm light and open horizons become one continuous landscape experienced from the ground up.

It is also a landscape to share. Two people can follow different rhythms and still arrive at the same place. Movement creates encounters, detours and moments that were never part of the plan.

From the archive to the next step

The GEL-KINETIC FR uses ASICS history as material for something new. Its design draws from the GEL-KINETIC and GEL-FRANTIC series of the 2000s, combining technical panelling, a streamlined profile and a distinctly sculpted sole.

Underfoot, an updated Scutoid GEL structure applies insights from research into walking motion and foot pressure. TRUSSTIC adds stability, FLYTEFOAM provides lightweight cushioning and AHAR rubber reinforces high-wear areas. The technology is there to support everyday movement, rather than decide what that movement should look like.

Its two debut colourways offer different readings of the same silhouette. Mixing earthy shades with softer highlights vs a more technical route, using contrast to reveal the lines and volumes of the shoe.

Move your body, move your mind

Movement changes the space around you. It can also change the way you see it. Sometimes a different pace is all it takes to find another perspective.

The ASICS GEL-KINETIC FR is made for that journey. The part you planned and everything that happens in between. Move, pause, change direction, start again. Now available at FOOTDISTRICT.

Free The Youth is a cultural platform born in Accra, Ghana, that has successfully translated the energy of its community into a global language. Founded by a group of young creatives, FTY moves between fashion, art, and visual storytelling, building bridges between Africa and the rest of the world through an authentic aesthetic deeply connected to its surroundings.

Its relationship with Jordan Brand comes from a natural shared vision: both go beyond the product itself, understanding sport and culture as drivers of change and self-expression. The Air Jordan 16 x Free The Youth collaboration represents this dialogue, reinterpreting the silhouette through the lens of contemporary African identity while projecting it towards the future.

To celebrate the launch, FOOTDISTRICT Barcelona hosts a space dedicated to Free The Youth and the Jordan 16, where the experience goes beyond the sneaker. A place to discover the FTY universe in the city, inviting visitors to explore not only a silhouette, but everything it represents.

An activation connecting Barcelona and Accra, reaffirming the power of stories when they are told from within.

A project born from calm

In a moment where speed dominates creation, FOOTDISTRICT and adidas propose a different approach: pause to observe, analyze, and connect. The Far Residency artistic residency provides the perfect framework, while the adidas Stan Smith becomes the focal point of a creative process that finds its fullest expression away from everyday noise. In silence, each line, texture, and form is perceived clearly, opening up a space for new interpretations.

Creation steps out of its usual context. We spoke with Srger and Dan Lam about their experience at Far Residency, about creation, and how a blank space can invite new forms of making.

Sergio Gómez Caballero (Srger): trial and error as language

Sergio Gómez Caballero (Srger) works with materiality and cultural archaeology, transforming the silhouette into a visual study. His process, born from trial and error, seeks to reinterpret forms and draw new possibilities from urban and rural environments. Each decision reflects a dialogue with materials and space: the Stan Smith ceases to be a mere object and becomes a conversation partner guiding creation. Far Residency provides calm and large-scale formats as an option.

Dan Lam (Sopopomo): sculpture as communication

Dan Lam explores visceral, tactile sculpture, transforming surfaces with resin and foam into landscapes that converse with biology and material poetry. Her work at Far Residency enhances interaction with other artists, showing that communication is a central tool in the creative process. The Stan Smith becomes a support for this sensory language, where creation is no longer a monologue.

Community as a catalyst

The project not only celebrates reinterpretation of the silhouette but also collaboration among creators. Sessions, dinners, and conversations between artists from different disciplines generate a constant flow of ideas and perspectives. Each interaction amplifies the experience, reinforcing FOOTDISTRICT and adidas’ vision: time and observation are the true engines of creativity.

A laboratory of experimentation

This initiative demonstrates how an icon like the Stan Smith can continually transform, revealing new dimensions when observed through calm and context. FOOTDISTRICT and adidas show that creation can be a collective and meditative act, where space, community, and artistic discipline converge.

At Far Residency, creation is experienced through calm. This rural setting, located in Ávila, Spain, allows us to understand the true value of the adidas Originals Stan Smith as an open space of simplicity, heritage and style, ready to be interpreted and explored.

A laboratory of calm and reflection

Far Residency is located in a quiet, non-touristic rural area of Ávila. Here, the landscape is a concrete reality that shapes the daily rhythm. The climate, scale of the surroundings, and absence of urban stimuli create a setting where attention is finely tuned.

Silence functions as a structure. Away from the bustle, artists can explore the interaction between form, texture, and concept. The Stan Smith, with its understated minimalism, reaches its fullest expression: every line and surface is perceived with clarity, like a creative space ready to reveal new possibilities.

The value of a unique space

Far Residency allows the simplicity of the Stan Smith to connect with real experimentation, led by artists Sergio Srgr and Dan Lam (Sopopomo). The absence of urgency and everyday routines enhances observation and detail: every fold, shadow, and design gesture is perceived as an object of study. It is this environment that makes it possible to appreciate how the Stan Smith condenses history, creativity, and visual culture.

The residency at Far Residency fosters interaction among artists, generating constant creative dialogue. The Stan Smith becomes a catalyst for a shared language: between materials, spaces, and diverse perspectives, the shoe acts as a meeting point for ideas, sensitivity, and experimentation.

Through the union of Far Residency and the Stan Smith, FOOTDISTRICT and adidas Originals present an initiative that combines artistic creation, calm, and community connection.

An immersive experience inspired by Puerto Rico

With Bad Bunny’s arrival in Madrid, the city was filled with Caribbean energy. At FOOTDISTRICT Madrid, we brought that vibe into the store, turning it into another stop on the DTmF Tour: a pop-up dedicated to the adidas Originals x Bad Bunny Merch Tour collection. The experience begins in an airport, continues through the streets of San Juan with a spectacular flamboyán tree, a symbol of Puerto Rico, includes a juice bar and a space to watch life pass by while playing dominoes, and culminates in the most intimate area: a Caribbean home, conceived as the final stop of a journey that began as a trip.

Every detail is designed so visitors can explore the adidas x Bad Bunny Merch Tour collection in an environment that reflects Bad Bunny’s history and creativity.

Opening and Shared Energy

To launch the experience, we invited friends of FOOTDISTRICT on a personalized tour with drinks, music and dancing. The energy of the moment filled the store and accompanied the spirit of the tour throughout its duration.

Dates and Hours

The adidas x Bad Bunny Merch Tour pop-up store will be open in Madrid from May 29 to June 15, 2026.

• Monday – Saturday: 10:30 – 21:00
• Sunday: 11:00 – 18:00

Address: C/ de Valverde 35, Madrid

With the arrival of the DTmF Tour in Europe, FOOTDISTRICT Madrid becomes a new space dedicated to the adidas x Bad Bunny Merch Tour, a meeting point between music, identity, and physical experience.

Madrid as a Meeting Point for Bad Bunny, adidas, and FOOTDISTRICT

In recent years, Madrid has become the center of Latin culture in Europe, a city open to music, and Bad Bunny knows this well: 10 concerts sold out almost instantly.

To celebrate Bad Bunny’s visit, FOOTDISTRICT transforms its Madrid store into the stage of an immersive experience built around the adidas x Bad Bunny Merch Tour, turning every corner into part of a journey from Puerto Rico to the world.

A Journey Inspired by Puerto Rico

The experience unfolds like a journey. The first space recreates an airport terminal, serving both as a starting point and as a symbol of arrival. Visitors are greeted by the red blooms of the flamboyán, the tree that has become a symbol of Puerto Rico and inspired the new edition of the adidas x Bad Bunny Ballerina “Flamboyan.”

The journey continues along a street inspired by Puerto Rico, built from everyday references and neighborhood codes reminiscent of Old San Juan—the colors, the cobblestones, and the chinchorros, small bars where you can stop for a drink and play a game of dominoes.

After passing through the airport and the streets, the tour ends in a more intimate setting: a Puerto Rican home, designed as the emotional conclusion of the story.

Every element is designed so visitors can explore the collection in an environment connected to its story, understanding the project as a physical extension of the creative universe Bad Bunny built around the DTmF Tour.

Dates and Opening Hours

The adidas x Bad Bunny Merch Tour pop-up store will be open to the public in Madrid from May 29 to June 15, 2026.

Monday – Saturday: 10:30 – 21:00
Sunday: 11:00 – 18:00
Address: C/ de Valverde 35, Madrid

Grey Days 2026 celebrates that connection once again through a selection of models and special releases spanning different moments in the brand’s history.

The origin of grey at New Balance

Before becoming an aesthetic symbol, grey was a functional decision. While other running brands focused on bright colours and aggressive combinations, New Balance chose a tone capable of naturally blending into asphalt and urban environments.

That decision ended up defining far more than a colour palette. Grey came to represent a specific way of understanding design: less aggressive, more enduring and deeply connected to the product itself.

Over time, that choice became one of the most recognisable elements of New Balance’s visual identity.

Grey Days 2026: running, archive and new generations

Every May, Grey Days brings together some of New Balance’s most representative models around the colour that has become synonymous with the brand.

For Grey Days 2026, the proposal connects different eras of the New Balance archive through silhouettes featuring ABZORB technology and references linked to multiple generations of running.

Models such as the 2000, 1906, 5030 and 2010 sit alongside new proposals and special editions that reinterpret the brand’s technical legacy from contemporary perspectives.

Through materials like mesh, suede and synthetic overlays, the different sneakers maintain a strong connection to the running universe that defines New Balance history. At the same time, they incorporate visual references from different decades, ranging from more classic constructions to designs inspired by the technical aesthetics of the 2000s.

A Grey Days backyard at FOOTDISTRICT Barcelona

To celebrate Grey Days 2026, FOOTDISTRICT transforms its Barcelona store into a small backyard inspired by the New Balance universe. A space designed to slow down, relax and experience the collection from a different perspective.

The installation translates the Grey Days identity into a physical environment through materials, furniture and a special product selection connected to the campaign. A setting that reflects the original idea behind grey: comfort, calm and a different way of understanding running and design.

A meeting point to discover some of New Balance’s most representative silhouettes and experience Grey Days beyond the product itself.

New Balance Grey Days 2026 at FOOTDISTRICT

Discover the New Balance Grey Days 2026 selection at FOOTDISTRICT and access models, reissues and special releases celebrating the brand’s historical relationship with grey.

Explore the different options available and find the silhouettes that best connect with your style within a collection shaped by running heritage, technical innovation and a distinctive visual identity.

Pablo Alzaga is a photographer who understands sport from every angle, an observer of both the game and the architecture surrounding football, an intuitive trend researcher, and the founder of Matinal, a studio that reveals how football exists across multiple cultural fields.

Matinal should be a football team, but it is something more. Much more. Matinal FC emerges from football, but what sets it apart is everything that happens before and after the game, the universe it builds around it. A world often perceived as separate from football, or at least from the way we used to understand it.

Pablo Alzaga arrives from Los Angeles after experiencing everything adidas is preparing for this football-driven summer. It becomes the perfect moment to speak with him about his personal projects, Matinal, and, of course, what he discovered at adidas in Los Angeles.

Matinal exists somewhere between football, design, and music. How did Matinal FC begin?

Matinal, as it exists today, a creative studio focused on the intersection of football, fashion, and culture, was established at the end of 2022. But before structuring it as an agency, we had already been exploring the idea of decontextualizing traditional football formats. In 2018, together with my partner Nacho Asensio, I founded a creative collective around our lifelong team, CCP (Club Ciudad de los Periodistas). We designed jerseys with adidas and LATIGO, a brand I was working with at the time, where we had already experimented with projects combining these three disciplines, from Dellafuente FC to our split Barça–Madrid jersey. We organized informal matches for creatives and began engaging in cultural conversations with clubs and professional players. Matinal responds to the need to connect what happens on and off the pitch and to facilitate dialogue between both worlds.

You start from global, mass-consumption worlds, yet by combining them you create something closer to the countercultural. Do you feel you are going against the current?

Yes. Historically, football has overly romanticized the idea of “shut up and dribble.” Players have been taught to leave their interests and passions aside and focus solely on performance. Think about what happens when a striker shares an artistic interest online but hasn’t scored in three months, or when a club activates a cultural project while flirting with relegation. We’ve always believed that a certain separation between culture and performance is beneficial for the industry, and it seems this idea is finally gaining traction in some areas of the football ecosystem.

What is the common thread across the content you create — from clothing to music or events?

We are inspired by redefining what it means to be a fan: how people access football through their own passion points, which may be far removed from playing the sport itself, such as design, fashion, art, music, photography, or architecture. In 2026, you don’t need to have stepped into a stadium to be interested in football. This is what we call post-football, the space that exists beyond victory and results.

One thing that sets Matinal FC apart is that you’re real “Sunday league players.” But creatively, there’s also a side of Matinal without a direct connection to football. How do those two sides interact?

Our processes and brand identity also reflect different ways of “being a fan.” Matinal’s origins lie in a Sunday league team where several players work in creative fields. In my case, working in fashion photography, admitting in certain circles that you liked football could be perceived as a red flag — being “that kind of guy.” At the same time, it was quite common to discover creative profiles who also played or consumed football but didn’t have a space to celebrate it with like-minded people.

As for the side without a direct connection, we have a very illustrative example. Sandra Ramiro — our first creative director and the designer of Matinal’s identity — wasn’t particularly interested in football at the time. All her references came from other fields, and that’s evident in many of our designs and even in the logo: it doesn’t resemble any traditional football crest. Any other designer influenced by football aesthetics would have likely arrived at a much more classic, heraldic result. This lack of bias adds significant value and richness to the scene. In fact, within the Matinal team, there are people who don’t like football, at least not in its traditional sense, but connect to it for other reasons. It’s in that friction and diversity of backgrounds where the magic happens.

There’s something about football that has made it transcend the sport itself. When do you think it began functioning as a cultural phenomenon in its own right? In a hyper-professionalized world, what role does the fan play in shaping football’s style and identity?

Football as a cultural and social phenomenon has always been part of its essence. When it comes to style and identity, I think the influence of the fan has grown in recent years compared to clubs and players, who historically set the tone. The football fan profile has diversified: it’s plural, directly connected to culture, and develops a sense of belonging through everything that happens on the pitch and beyond it. The sport is now expected to carry a purpose that extends beyond the stadium. Football no longer belongs exclusively to players and clubs — and the current challenge lies in mastering the conversation both on and off the field.

Do you think sports brands understand the cultural value of football?

Football, like fashion, is “reactive by design”: it waits to see what works and then replicates it with slight changes. Nobody wants to lead, but everyone wants to be among the first. Once again, the path is opened from subculture: Discord groups, run clubs, fictional football teams… I think some sports brands are learning where to look, and it’s very positive that they understand that cultural gravity starts within communities.

There’s a special connection between Matinal and music — or at least with music professionals. How did that relationship come about? What role does music play in shaping football identity today?

Both music and football have a deep sense of belonging and community embedded within them. Few disciplines share these values so strongly, which is why their relationship has always felt natural for Matinal. In terms of product, the concept of merch as a cultural artifact is essentially the same in both worlds: I see no difference between the feeling of crossing paths with someone wearing your team’s jersey or your favorite artist’s t-shirt.

Paco de Lucía, Rod Stewart, Elton John, Julio Iglesias, Bob Marley — there’s a long history between musicians and football. Today, is it associated with a specific style?

I’d summarize that list by saying personality sells tickets. The Gallagher brothers, Leiva, Dellafuente… In the collective imagination of music and football, there isn’t a dominant style, but there is a clear connection. For example, we’ve designed football shirts across a spectrum that ranges from Aitana to Viva Belgrado.

We’re not going to ask which musician is the best footballer, but you’ve organised matches in some pretty unusual places and situations. What do you think is the strangest setting you’ve ever played in? Any anecdotes?

In 2023, we played two matches in the same week against Duki, Milo J, Khea and their crew after a bit of banter during a dinner (Argentina World Cup 2022 vibes). The first match was behind closed doors, but on the second day some kids spotted us entering a sports center in central Madrid, and we ended up playing with more than 100 kids cheering from the sidelines. The younger sister of one of our players had seen us on TikTok.

Fashion has its runways twice a year; football has its own every four. What does the World Cup represent in terms of style?

The symbolic power of World Cup kits — and how they become icons (Spain 94, Germany 94, France 98) — feels like a breath of fresh air compared to the current pace, where clubs release up to four or five kits per season.

What can you tell us about the presentation of adidas kits in Los Angeles?

adidas has shown how it’s dominating the conversation both on and off the pitch. The reintroduction — 36 years later — of the Trefoil logo on World Cup kits is a strong move, with Originals acting as the narrative engine in a space historically reserved for performance. This makes it easier for culturally engaged insiders to connect with football through their own passion points — design, fashion, music — and organically expand the brand’s discourse.

In my opinion, this should be the future of the relationship between football and brands: narratives rooted in their own cultural value, connected to the sporting context yet able to stand independently. What happens around the pitch is now just as relevant as what happens on it.

What interests you most about the communities formed around football — the stands, the streets, creative projects?

I’m interested in analyzing how creative football projects anticipate cultural shifts instead of reacting to them. As I mentioned before, discourse leaders always emerge from the margins.

Football is undergoing a visual, narrative and aesthetic transformation. Where do you think this evolution is heading?

Fans and players are becoming increasingly plural and diverse. Clubs have turned into complex ecosystems. Leagues are no longer just competitions, but festivals. In short, the value of football as a brand now lives both on and off the pitch. It needs to develop its own lore: a narrative thread that keeps fans engaged between seasons, not limited solely to results.

What values or emotions would you like Matinal FC to transmit to future generations of football and culture fans?

Football goes far beyond Sunday matches or sport in the strict sense — it’s part of our identity and everyday life. Human first, athlete second.

The story of Air Max begins like this. With a revelation. With air, hidden for years, exposed for the first time like a truth that could never be concealed again. That decision changed a sneaker, but it also changed a way of seeing. What was visible was no longer enough.

Today, that same logic evolves into the Nike Air Liquid Max, a successor in the Air Max lineage featuring liquid air technology, vibrant nanoprints, and distinctive details such as a tinted translucent rubber outsole. A space where creation and confession begin to blur.

For this launch, we’ve developed an audiovisual piece together with 1111 (mil-ciento-once), an emerging electronic music collective formed by Fedra, Armas, and ru0001. Born from chance, from a fleeting encounter sustained by instinct. Three architects of sound who have shed their fear of pop while maintaining their connection to netcore and the digital underground. Music designed for walking through the city with headphones on, feeling the concrete pulse beneath your feet.

One of the tracks from their upcoming project, La Línea De Puntos, speaks precisely about expectations. About that line someone draws for you to follow. And the decision to break away from it. That’s why 1111 chose this track to recreate it in a new version, exclusively for FOOTDISTRICT. The visual layer developed by Duelo and Ex-All from the track expands on the idea of confession and public exposure, concepts that also lie at the very core of artistic creation.

The Nike Air Liquid Max exists within that same gesture, in the moment it diverges from the prescribed path. Like a confession that seeks not approval, but liberation.

Because in the end, creating is just that. Saying something you didn’t know how to say. And making it visible.

Puma Suede x Charles F. Stead

The Puma Suede has been associated with music since its inception. Created for Walt “Clyde” Frazier, the silhouette (which became popular under other names as well) exploded during the golden era when the New York Knicks won two NBA championships. Frazier was the local idol, and his suede sneakers became the symbol of New York City. Suede, the material chosen by Frazier, allowed for countless color variations, which was a major novelty in the 70s basketball scene.

In this new release, the Puma Suede partners with Charles F. Stead, a British tannery with over a century of experience, to showcase the more handcrafted side of a sneaker where the material is its key feature. And of course, we wanted to bring this launch to FOOTDISTRICT Madrid.

A Sonic Experience

The store was transformed into a stage where leather and the manufacturing process came to life through various interactive experiences. One of the main attractions was the installation of suspended sound cubes, which allowed attendees to immerse themselves in a unique sonic experience. Each cube offered a different music selection, covering genres such as R&B, modern hip hop, and classic rap, creating a rich and dynamic atmosphere that perfectly connected with the spirit of the PUMA Suede.

Additionally, visitors, all of whom were in some way connected to music, had the opportunity to personalize their own PUMA Suede sneakers with a leather pressing system, laces, and charms. Guided by expert craftsmen, attendees were able to experience first-hand the artisanal process that has defined the brand, creating a tangible connection to the leather tradition of Charles F. Stead.