adidas Originals revisits 90s style tribes

Since the 60s, adidas Originals’ unmistakable three-stripe Gazelle has been a mainstay in youth subcultures. In its new campaign, the brand’s iconic trainer is worn to by today’s frontrunners of the classic 90s style tribes. Representing these gangs from the Gazelle’s golden era, five game-changing artists lead the campaign: Lauryn Hill’s daughter and Dazed 100 model Selah Marley for reggae, alt rock band Bully’s Alicia Bognanno for grunge, skater Tyshawn Jones for skate (obviously), Philly band PALMAS for Britpop, and Brooklyn collective Pro Era’s Kirk Knight for hip hop.

Brooklyn born and bred, Knight’s affinity with adidas came naturally. With the Gazelle as his wardrobe staple, the collaboration is a perfect fit: “adidas? Hell yeah!” In his words, “especially with Brooklyn people, we’re up front, we don’t front.” A rising voice in hip hop, for him the influence it has on fashion is its pace. The way he sees it, hip-hop style “relates to adidas and Brooklyn in general, it relates to everything I do because it gained me a way of fast living.”

Summing up his style as “elegant but hood”, Knight points to Kanye West, A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ferg, Pharrell, Karl Lagerfeld and Alexander Wang as his fashion icons. Like adidas Originals’ Gazelle, his style has evolved while staying true to a principle of understated cool: “I wear simple pieces but it's the details is what really gets it for me… When you look good, you feel good, and if you feel good, you’re gonna make good music.”