Published by SEVENSTORE
Author & Captioning: Millie Throp
The adidas SPZL diffusion was born out of reflection. And in immortalising the stories held by bygone, mainline adidas silhouettes with its inception, carrying forward footwear from the archives with modern treatments, the sub-label raises a toast to a decade of doing just that. Updating four culturally badged sneakers from its 10-year tapestry to mark the occasion, representative of its rooting in sport, sartorial subversiveness, and the North-West, enter: the SS24 adidas SPZL Spring 2024 DECADE Pack.
In 2014, marking almost a century since the start of adidas’ rise and rise – with Bavarian founder Adi Dassler first journeying into athletic footwear in 1924 – designer Gary Aspden’s prior involvement with the brand engendered a position at the helm of a new direction, branded “Spezial”. Said to “represent the essence of adidas”, following on from an earlier exhibition of the same name and several sneakers sharing the moniker, the sub-line sought to celebrate the best of adidas, paying special attention to those styles having been brushed with fan-favouritism over the years.
Yet with many of these revisited iterations stemming from their positioning in active endeavours, SPZL has always looked beyond just the runners garnering adidas Olympic appearances, and moreso to the likes of British football fans on the terraces of the 70s and 80s. Birthing a working-class led, sartorial band, coined the “casuals”, seeing supporters donning silhouettes like the adidas Gazelle and Stan Smith as their spectator’s uniform, adidas stood a unifier of counterculture and accessible fashion – a legacy lived on through SPZL.
Thus, spawning a group of “anniversary editions” – adorned with reversed leather and Trefoils throughout – the DECADE Pack tells the backstories of its resurged silhouettes in tow, noting how the original Ardwick laid causation to overnight queues from consumers, part of the first ever SPZL collection.
SEVENSTORE’s own commemorations for the release centred in Merseyside – arguably at the crux of SPZL fandom – we caught up with local, day-one obsessives Brian Dagnall and Chris Philbin for their innermost thoughts on the collection, bridging their pasts in chasing the brand’s sought silhouettes from the very beginning. But beside each sneaker’s held history, their belonging in the hearts of fans like Dagnall and Philbin shapes another layer; the collection not just inspired by the fans, but made for them.