Craig Green reimagines Adidas shoes with industrial screws and pumps
British fashion designer Craig Green has created a collection of experimental shoes and boots for sportswear brand Adidas, which debuted a week ahead of London Fashion Week.
Designed as a concept collection for Green's Autumn Winter 2022 fashion show, the shoes have been reimagined in Green's experimental style in a range of yellow, black, grey, white, red, orange and green shades.
The first of the two conceptual styles is a slip-on boot attached to rubber tubes and pumps, which the designer sourced from a British diving equipment manufacturer.
Green also added an Adidas logo on the front, while wooden chip-like blocks form the underpart of the boot.
"We used a lot of UK-based industrial factories," the designer told Vogue in an interview.
"We had bags made at a medical rubber factory that makes anaesthetic pumps; all of the pocket valves were from a latex factory that makes deep-sea diving gear and stuff."
The other shoe in the concept collection is a reinterpretation of the Stan Smith – a classic trainer style from Adidas' main footwear line.
It features more material than the regular Stan Smith, as well as a row of silver screws along the front and back, with pierced holes on each side echoing the iconic three stripes of Adidas' logo.
The original Stan Smith cast can still be seen at the core of the shoe.
Green has designed shoes for Adidas since the start of the decade, with previous trainer collaborations with the brand focusing on "functionality and purpose".
The pairing has also seen Green create designs for other popular trainers, such as the Adidas Superstar.
While the concept shoes will not be released for the general public to wear, Green also redesigned a pair of Craig Green Scuba Stans that he debuted at the fashion week. These will be available later this year.
Alongside the footwear, the designer showed a clothing collection that similarly incorporated bolts, inflatable pumps and tactile materials.
Green launched his London-based menswear fashion label in 2012 and showed his first catwalk collection in 2013.
The inflated shape of his Adidas shoes recalls Green's voluminous puffer jackets for fashion brand Moncler, which also balloon in size and form.
Aside from working on his long-standing collaboration with Adidas, the fashion designer has created homeware items, including a collection of statement rugs for Swedish furniture giant IKEA.
Photography is by Dan Tobin Smith for Adidas.