adidas Originals by NEIGHBORHOOD FW18

adidas and NEIGHBORHOOD first started working together in 2005, almost two decades after Neighborhood’s founder, Shinsuke Takizawa, was introduced to the brand. Inevitably, the very first partnership saw Takizawa creating his own version of the adidas Superstar shoes worn by the group, and the collaborations have grown and evolved ever since. Takizawa spent his formative years around Japanese motorcycle team and his counterculture/subculture instincts are at the heart of NEIGHBORHOOD. Each new collaboration sees Takizawa and adidas mining sportswear’s rich countercultural and tribal associations to create something both iconic and completely new. “Creating a design that does not already exist was the original concept when we first worked together,” says Takizawa.

The FW18 capsule collection stays true to these ideals: inspired by a distinctly Japanese take on the classic sportswear of football terrace culture and the re-appropriated military garb of nomadic motorcycle gangs, with each piece featuring new graphics by Los Angeles-based artist Cali Thornhill DeWitt. A mainstay of the transgressive L.A. punk scene, DeWitt embodies the countercultural spirit of adidas x NEIGHBORHOOD: from appearing in drag on the CD artwork of Nirvana’s In Utero to designing Kanye West’s provocative 2016 tour merchandise. His work for the FW18 adidas x NEIGHBORHOOD capsule features the latter brand’s iconic ‘Old English’ font and a new ‘target’ graphic that invokes the ‘Mod’ culture that evolved into terrace culture. The words ‘Survive’ and ‘Under Attack’ evoke the rebel spirit of the terraces.

Along with DeWitt’s graphics, military style runs throughout the collection. In the apparel offering, the centerpiece is an extended-length M65 field jacket, complete with a detachable Primaloft-padded inner vest. The NBHD Old English font can be seen on each of the four front pockets, while DeWitt’s target designs appear on both the left chest and above the zipped back pocket. Meanwhile, each of the three footwear styles - the Kamanda, Stan Smith and I-5923 - are updated takes on terrace favourites from over the years, available in military-inspired olive colorways. This buttery nubuck version of the Kamanda features the iconic, adidas Samba-inspired sole along with new asymmetric lacing, debossed NEIGHBORHOOD lettering and DeWitt’s tonal graphics. Furthermore, matching track tops and pants embroidered with the signature graphics and long and short-sleeved tees that evoke the training tops of football teams in the 70s and 80s round out the collection. Their retro styling is given a new lease of life through bold graphic treatments.