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Everyone remembers when Adidas dropped
Kanye.

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Almost nobody noticed

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when they started winning without him
until suddenly they were everywhere again.

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This is FC Explains.

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At every stop on Oasis’ 2025 world tour.

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Something interesting was happening
before the band even took the stage.

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Fans were already dressed head to toe
in Adidas tracksuits, Sambas, everything.

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It wasn't a coincidence.

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It was actually the point.

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Adidas didn't just sponsor the tour.

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They made themselves part of the culture,
the nostalgia, the whole moment.

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Champagne Supernova in the sky

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Then, after a series of collaboration
designs, Bad

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Bunny launched his own signature shoe
at the Super Bowl halftime show this year,.

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So how did Adidas get here?

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After losing one of the most lucrative
partnerships in brand history.

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How did they end up more
culturally relevant than ever? 

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In January 2023,

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Bjorn Guldan started as CEO
and after a period of reorganization,

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the brand leaned into its heritage
in sneakers and sports,

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pairing iconic products
with smart partnerships

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that put Adidas back
at the center of culture.

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Here's why it worked.

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Adidas didn't have to manufacture
that connection.

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Oasis fans have been showing up
in the three stripes since the Gallagher

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brothers adopted them as their de
facto uniform back in the 90s.

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The brand was already woven
into the identity of that fan base.

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Adidas just made it official
and built a business around it.

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Oasis Live 25 pop up shops
opened in two cities around the world.

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The brand didn’t go looking for Oasis because
it seemed like a smart marketing move.

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The connection was already there.

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The collaboration just gave it
a commercial form. 

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Which brings us to Bad Bunny.

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His Adidas partnership began
during his concert residency in Puerto Rico.

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He worked with the brand to produce custom Sambas celebrating the island's culture.

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He wore his first signature shoe,
the Bad Bo 1.0, in a new white colorway

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during the Super Bowl halftime
show this year.

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Adidas didn't just put Bad Bunny's
name on an existing shoe.

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This time they worked with him
to build a signature.

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That's a different level
of creative investment that signals

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how seriously
they're taking these partnerships.

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And the result is a product
that his audience genuinely wants

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because it genuinely reflects him.

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This isn't a brand chasing streetwear
hype.

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It's a brand that believes its athletic
heritage is worth

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something in luxury spaces,
and that the right creative partner

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can prove it.

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To understand how it happened, I spoke to Alasdhair

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Willis, who joined Adidas in 2022,
as chief creative officer.

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His connection to the brand

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goes back to 2005, when he helped
develop Adidas by Stella McCartney.

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He previously worked as creative director
of British fashion brand Hunter,

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known for his rubber boots
worn everywhere from farms to festivals.

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Willis told me 

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that a successful collaboration
is more than just a licensing play.

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The company looks for partners

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who, in his words,
have a genuine interest in the brand.

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When that's the case,
the authenticity and relevance

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come through, and the brand
naturally reaches new audiences.

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He also told me the team
regularly ask themselves

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what athletes need right now
to improve their performance.

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That's the tension

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Adidas has learned to hold streetwear
credibility and sports DNA

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working together, not against each other.

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Willis told me that these two elements,

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the two sides of the brand, absolutely
go hand in hand.

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 The more the company engages

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that DNA as a sports brand, the more
its streetwear can build on that legacy.

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Now Adidas is entering
one of the most concentrated

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periods of global sports
visibility in its history.

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The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted
across the United States, Canada

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and Mexico, the largest World Cup ever
in terms of both teams and audience.

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A ton of the tournament's top national
teams will be wearing Adidas kits.

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And the 2028 Olympic Games will be another
high profile time to shine.

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It's a chance to put its athletic heritage

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front and center in front of a global
audience, in one of the most fashion

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conscious cities on the planet. 

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Adidas will likely approach both moments

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the way they approached everything else
recently,

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not just as sponsorship
opportunities, but as cultural ones.

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There's one more collaboration
worth highlighting.

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And in some ways, it's the most revealing
about where Adidas strategy is

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Grace Wales Bonner is the Hermes menswear
creative director

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and the first black woman
to lead a major luxury fashion house.

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She's also been in Adidas fan
since growing up in London.

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For years, her Adidas
collaborations have been high

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fashion riffs on classic silhouettes,
and they sell out consistently.

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in 2025,
she went further with the Corinthia Low,

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a wholly original shoe silhouette
not built on any existing Adidas template.

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The collection also included
soccer jerseys and glossy

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red and purple plush
velour tracksuits and knit track tops.

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High fashion and athletic heritage
in the same package.

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What makes the Wales Bonner partnership
interesting is what it says about who

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Adidas wants to

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Before we get to

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the big collaborations,
we need to talk about the samba

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The samba was created in 1950
as a soccer shoe built for playing on

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hard, icy services when fields
were otherwise unplayable in the winter.

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2022 brought us
the summer of samba by 2024.

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It was inescapable.

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What's interesting is that Adidas didn't
engineer this in the traditional sense.

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They didn't flood the market
or push a massive campaign.

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They kept supply tight,
let the cultural momentum build,

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and used it as a foundation
for collaborations.

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Adidas
didn't need to invent the next big thing.

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They already had