Photo courtesy of Jorden Lee/Adidas
WRITTEN BY ROSS DIAS
After shutting down for renovations during the summer, German footwear giant Adidas re-opened their doors in Toronto's Queen Street west neighbourhood in August.
The new store launches a "Neighbourhood Concept" store, which includes collaborations between Adidas Originals and local designers and illustrators. The Queen Street store is the first of its kind in Canada, but key Montreal and Vancouver locations are set to follow soon.
Photo courtesy of Jorden Lee/Adidas
Photo courtesy of Jorden Lee/Adidas
Photo courtesy of Jorden Lee/Adidas
For the launch, cult locals designers Sean Brown of Needs & Wants Studios, and Amrit Kumar and Mriga Kapadiya of NorBlack NorWhite, created customized t-shirts for the store that were given away as exclusive gifts with purchases. For his t-shirts, Brown travelled to Montreal, in collaboration with Pique, where they were over-dyed and soccer numbers were added to their backs. Toronto-based illustrator, Gyimah Gariba created bespoke art installations for the new store.
At the store's launch block party, Canadian-born hip hop artist PARTYNEXTDOOR surprised guests with a performance after sets from Toronto DJs JAYEMKAYEM and J.Wray. The artist, who is signed onto Drake's record label, has written popular songs including Rihanna's "Work" and DJ Khaled's "Wild Thoughts."
Canadian-born hip hop artist PARTYNEXTDOOR performed at the Adidas block party at the sneaker company's new store. (Photo courtesy of Elie Kimbembe)
PARTYNEXTDOOR with Ontario-native producer Murda Beatz (Photo courtesy of Elie Kimbembe)
The investment into the Canadian creative community does not end after the launch. The second floor of the Queen Street store has been repurposed into an activation space to connect and celebrate the creative culture oozing from all areas of the city.
