So Owens is back at it with Adidas, this time leveraging their springblade technology, a series of futuristic blades at the sole of the shoe. Owens has applied them to a gaiter-like boot and runner, and they have a characteristic futuristic, avant-garde look. “Having the opportunity to use somebody else’s technology—when they’re the best at what they do—and to be able to make runners … and to be able to get my team out of their other branded fucking sneakers and into ours, that was my motivation,” Owens said with his usual candor. “And we’re able to do it in a way that everybody can engage.”
The shoes were first revealed back in June during Owens’ runway show for the spring 2027 collection, and their dramatic, Brutalist silhouette was the perfect complement to his lean, somewhat regal ready-to-wear designs. It borrowed from his existing “Taco” series, named so as its essentially a folded piece of fabric over the foot, yielding a deflated bag over the foot. “The crumpled volume feels careless and opulent at the same time,” Owens said, before adding, “at the same time, I’m half-Mexican and love tacos.”
Photo: KRISTINA NAGEL/OWENSCORP
Indeed, the shoes were just a small part of the larger Adidas collaboration, which included ready-to-wear, like sweeping hooded capes, tracksuit pants in lean and oversized silhouettes, sharp-shouldered sleeveless tunics, and jackets and bodysuits that were inflated using internal fans. The result was a mix between those blow-up Halloween costumes and what happens to Violet Beauregarde when she turns into a blueberry in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. “I always think about how can I do a runway show that is impactful without being wasteful,” Owens said. “Without building sets that are going to be knocked down and thrown away. That’s wasteful.”
“The idea of using air and garments just fits into that,” he continued. “It’s something so pure and simple—and blending technology with something so naive, there was such charm in that. Inflated garments have been around for a long time. I mean, the Japanese workers have been using them for a long time, but then Adidas took it up, I don’t know, like 20 years ago or something. But then I found that in their archives, and so I thought, ‘Well, that’s timely.’”
