Erika Wykes-Sneyd – VP of Brand Communications, adidas Originals:
We’ve embarked on the new age of originality, we’ve said from the beginning that if we want to be the brand that embodies, represents and helps bring a new generation of values into the world, if we want to be moving at the speed of culture. This goes back to the adidas principle of embracing the cutting edge, opening doors to new things and acting with rebellious optimism.
We drafted these principles back in April while researching the web3 values that truly own and energize the community in this new open metaverse environment. The two are so similar that we thought we should organize Originals with the new generation involved. It’s where people spend their time, the way they want to express themselves, and where it’s going to force brands to behave in ways that no one is happy with, being a true collaborative brand is in our DNA. We will be number one, we will be ambitious, and we will lead the way in a fair, equitable and inclusive way.
Tareq Nazlawy – Senior Director Digital, adidas:
The opportunity for the metaverse is that it creates endless possibilities for us to connect, create, and belong. We initially focused on this relevant part. Working with the community around G Money, Pixel Vault and Bored Apes Yacht Club has been a huge learning journey for us. These communities are not accumulating hype tokens, they are interested in the future of that community, and I think we can learn something from that. When we consider our role as a brand, we can be a trusted friend to members who want to join the space. Essentially, how do we help, educate, inform and mentor our existing members?
CREATED WITH NFT PIONEERS BORED APE YACHT CLUB, THE TEAM BEHIND THE PUNK’S COMIC AND GMONEY, THE COLLECTION WAS BUILT WITH THE EXPERTISE OF METAVERSE COMMUNITIES
Gordon Goner and Gargamel – Co-Founders of Bored Apes Yacht Club:
Adidas has a tumultuous history that has marked iconic moments and cultural shifts. By embracing an open metaverse, adidas marks a shift in granting stakes to communities involved in sports and culture. We hope this marks a shift for the brand, inviting creators to pioneer with us.
Sean Gearin (GFunk) – Founder of Pixel Vault:
I love how organic it happens. It’s always about exploring this new space, new possibilities, new ways of expressing yourself. The team here is curious about every step. I think watching the narrative shift and co-creating a project is an accurate reflection of our collective beliefs and what we see about the future of this decentralized virtual world, whatever that may be.
gmoney:
We’ve seen a lot of talk about Adidas in terms of people creating their own iterations and fan art. I think if people weren’t excited about what was going on, you wouldn’t see these outbursts of love. Not just NFTs, culturally, this is a major shift in the strategy of a major brand that everyone around the world recognizes. To me, that’s pretty cool because Adidas has paved the way for other brands to follow suit.
THE NFT WILL PROVIDE ACCESS TO VIRTUAL WEARABLES FOR BLOCKCHAIN-BASED GAMING WORLD THE SANDBOX, PLUS PHYSICAL PRODUCT TO MATCH AVAILABLE FOR INTO THE METAVERSE NFT OWNERS IN 2022
Andrea Nieto – Senior Designer Future, adidas:
We always seek to be community first, born from culture, and ti do what Originals does. That is what led us to gmoney, Pixel Vault and the Bored Apes Yacht Club. You can’t say you’re doing stuff with a community if you just partner up with one person. So, it had to be more than one, which makes this a lot more beautiful, but also more complex.
We’re recreating what we do in the physical world. What really excites me is how when we think about a piece of clothing and the way it drapes, how can we start to separate or even remove gravity and then bring the aesthetics back to the physical form of the product. We strive to explore more digitally and focus more on the world in everything we do with physical products as we understand the impact on the planet and work to minimize it.
THE NFTS ARE ON SALE DECEMBER 17 AT ADIDAS.COM/METAVERSE.