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Adidas has new shoes for you to build {AdJab}
Feb 13th 2006 2:23AM Adidas is not immune to the growing trend for icon and brand collaboration. Current Adidas collaborations include Adidas and McCartney, Adidas and Yamamoto, Adidas Respect Me (by Missy Elliot - urban sportif apparel), Ali by Adidas (The legendary boxer), Adidas and WE (the urban skate brand), to name but a few.
So what’s in it for the “parent” collaborator, in this case Adidas but we could also point to Reebok, Nike, Puma and others…? The overriding intention is undoubtedly an attempt by the “parent” collaborator to achieve an otherwise unachievable level of “cred” to use the vernacular term. The parent collaborators are invariably ponderous conglomerates managed by men in grey suits who exude as much “cred” as a George Bush/Tony Blair hybrid; simply put the “parent” collaborators are mundane and dull and have a desperate need for a splash of color to give them some credibility with their personality-addicted consumer base — enter the “child” collaborator, usually a hip designer, musician, film star or sports star. Everyone’s happy, the “parent” collaborator gets their desperately needed “cred” and the “child” collaborator receives a truck load of cash and access to an even wider audience — Everybody’s ‘appy! Or are they?
Many knowledgeable fashion commentators are questioning the wisdom of parent and child collaborations. First of all, if a “parent” collaborator hasn’t got enough in-house momentum and self-belief then no amount of celebrity gloss gleaned from the “child” collaborator will hide the cracks. Many commentators are suggesting that the “parent” collaborators stop concentrating purely on the surface of their brand and start peeling back the edges and taking a look at what’s deep inside — it’s called soul-searching: who am “I”, what do “I” stand for and where am “I” going? If a “parent” collaborator hasn’t got the guts to face itself and hopes that temporal collaborations are the answer to their brand’s long-term success, then that brand is ultimately doomed because there can only be so many parent/child relationships before the customer gets wise to the marketing strategy. In addition, the “parent” collaborator will be colored by the “child” collaborate long after the collaboration ends and as we all know the cult-of-celebrity is very fickle and a star today could well be a liability tomorrow — so rather than help paper over the cracks of the “parent” collaborators image the “child” collaborator actually starts to rock its very foundation!
If a brand has true substance, a quality product and an innovative in-house team then it simply doesn’t need to adopt a “child” collaborator. In fact, it just needs to adopt some respect for its true customer base!!!
Adidas and Stella McCartney Partner On A New Running Shoe {Luxist}
Feb 13th 2006 2:06AM Adidas is not immune to the growing trend for icon and brand collaboration. Current Adidas collaborations include Adidas and McCartney, Adidas and Yamamoto, Adidas Respect Me (by Missy Elliot - urban sportif apparel), Ali by Adidas (The legendary boxer), Adidas and WE (the urban skate brand), to name but a few.
So what’s in it for the “parent” collaborator, in this case Adidas but we could also point to Reebok, Nike, Puma and others…? The overriding intention is undoubtedly an attempt by the “parent” collaborator to achieve an otherwise unachievable level of “cred” to use the vernacular term. The parent collaborators are invariably ponderous conglomerates managed by men in grey suits who exude as much “cred” as a George Bush/Tony Blair hybrid; simply put the “parent” collaborators are mundane and dull and have a desperate need for a splash of color to give them some credibility with their personality-addicted consumer base — enter the “child” collaborator, usually a hip designer, musician, film star or sports star. Everyone’s happy, the “parent” collaborator gets their desperately needed “cred” and the “child” collaborator receives a truck load of cash and access to an even wider audience — Everybody’s ‘appy! Or are they?
Many knowledgeable fashion commentators are questioning the wisdom of parent and child collaborations. First of all, if a “parent” collaborator hasn’t got enough in-house momentum and self-belief then no amount of celebrity gloss gleaned from the “child” collaborator will hide the cracks. Many commentators are suggesting that the “parent” collaborators stop concentrating purely on the surface of their brand and start peeling back the edges and taking a look at what’s deep inside — it’s called soul-searching: who am “I”, what do “I” stand for and where am “I” going? If a “parent” collaborator hasn’t got the guts to face itself and hopes that temporal collaborations are the answer to their brand’s long-term success, then that brand is ultimately doomed because there can only be so many parent/child relationships before the customer gets wise to the marketing strategy. In addition, the “parent” collaborator will be colored by the “child” collaborate long after the collaboration ends and as we all know the cult-of-celebrity is very fickle and a star today could well be a liability tomorrow — so rather than help paper over the cracks of the “parent” collaborators image the “child” collaborator actually starts to rock its very foundation!
If a brand has true substance, a quality product and an innovative in-house team then it simply doesn’t need to adopt a “child” collaborator. In fact, it just needs to adopt some respect for its true customer base!!!
Burberry Baby Touch {Luxist}
Feb 9th 2006 9:04PM Burberry can boast an impressive list of collections, including: Burberry Prorsum, Thomas Burberry, Burberry London, Burberry Golf, Burberry House, Burberry Timepiece (watches to the rest of us) and Burberry Eyewear - phew! Impressive! However, scratch the glossy checkered surface and an all too different picture emerges; a new world-order which must send shivers down the spine of every major brand.
Burberry’s once pre-eminent status as a brand of the rich and powerful has been completely undermined over the past few years as a new breed of customer or pseudo-customer (a parenthesis is necessary to clarify pseudo-customer — this term denotes an individual who purchases a counterfeit [usually online] at a drastically reduced price in an attempt to glean the associated kudos of the brand), drags the once might brand through the lager and blood-stained gutter now so commonly associated with Burberry clad lads and ladettes, colloquially referred to as “Chavs”. Burberry must be devastated by this new found infamy and wonder whether they will ever fully rid themselves of this damaging stigma. Some fashion commentators actually believe Burberry is partly to blame for this situation — they point to the decision to produce Burberry baseball cap as an open invitation to a new strata of customer which was bound to instigate negative consequences; the traditional Burberry customer would never consider buying a baseball cap - ergo, Burberry must accept some of the onus for the current stigma. That aside, other brands are experiencing the “burberry-effect” and are desperately seeking a way to avoid this new world-order which turns the class strata on its head or at the very least dissolves the class system altogether.
Perhaps we’re all missing the point and Burberry are in fact at the vanguard of a secretive egalitarian mission to integrate toff and chav into a new inclusive integrated world-order where Dave and Rupert or Tracy and Camilla can live in peace and the social divide is bridge in red, camel, black and white check.
Project Runway: Banana Republic Competition {AOL TV}
Feb 6th 2006 11:06PM Heidi Klum, supermodel and wife of singing sensation Seal is now an international footwear designer too. Heidi Klum has recently finished her 3rd footwear collection for Birkenstock. This collection, according to Birkenstock, is her most glamorous take on Birkenstock sandals to date and includes:
Madrid “Diamond” feature metallic grained leather uppers in gold or silver appliqued with rhinestones and crystal hearts.
“Saphire”, Heidi‘s two-strap sandal features two-tone metallic leather uppers, adorned with rivets and rhinestones. This style is available in three colour combinations: gold/silver, pink/silver and green/blue.
All sandals had their traditional cork-latex footbed covered in matching metallic leathers and come with a silver plated Heidi Klum pendant.
An objective on-looker might deduce that Birkenstock are moving away from their traditional “eco-conscious” and “green” customer base and are attempting to woo a new affluent and trendy customer who would easily empathise with the glamourous profile and, indeed, lifestyle of Heidi Klum and Seal. Let’s face it, the traditional Birkenstock customer has probably never even heard of Heidi Klum and is more likely to empathise with Ghandi or St Francis. So is this a conscious decision by Birkenstock to move away from their traditional “carrot-crunching” customer base or are they simply attempting to be all things to all people? The latter is perhaps the more plausible answer and who can blame them for wanting to achieve global dominance just like every other high-profile brand.
Nonetheless, part of us all longs for a brand free from celebrity and stardom, a brand pure, free and simple — a brand reminiscent of the “hippie” era. Birkenstock used to be that brand. Maybe a new celebrity-free “Brand Messiah” will come forward and fill the void — suggestions in writing please.
Levi's RedWire DLX iPod jeans {Engadget}
Jan 18th 2006 3:00AM jeans with attached headphones! dude they must be very high-waisters!
