Adidas announces global partnership with Edison Chen

Sportswear brand Adidas is teaming up with Edison Chen, founder and creative director of Hong Kong-based streetwear label CLOT, after unveiling the inaugural collection during Shanghai Fashion Week.

In a statement, Adidas said that the Adidas Originals by Edison Chen global partnership marks the designer’s return to the brand to begin “a new era of collaboration that will redefine creative innovation and build a cultural legacy for the future”.

Adidas added that Chen will bring “innovative vision and creative prowess” to Adidas Originals with exclusive collaborative styles, which leverage the sportswear brand’s archive and heritage, while also “fostering a cultural exchange between the East and West”.

To announce the new collaboration, Adidas and Chen unveiled a new ‘Change the Generation’ collection as part of CLOT’s spring/summer 2024 show during Shanghai Fashion Week in China. The collection explores three distinctly different styles “ranging from ultra-lifestyle to formal dress and active/streetwear,” as well as a “collision of the three lifestyles together”.

Pieces from the inaugural collection will be available from January 2024.

Commenting on the collaboration, Chen said: “With Adidas, we’re creating to inspire. I think the ability to freely create something is one of the reasons why I do this. My whole aesthetic, especially in the past few years, has fully transformed.

“I haven’t had the chance to create through that lens yet, which is why this collaboration is exciting and nerve-wracking for me because we’re heading in that direction through this partnership. I’m coming in with a new inspiration. I spent the summer in Europe immersing myself in the Adidas brand, which gave me a new point of view. The new EDC vibe is more chic than street. After the 20th year, I’m more excited than ever.”

Edison founded CLOT in 2003, which marries Chinese traditional motifs with contemporary streetwear. Under his tenure, CLOT has also spun off into CLOTTEE, a diffusion line inspired by the energy of the newer generations, and Juice Store, a fashion and lifestyle store in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Los Angeles.