On Thursday, the 20th of January, adidas unveiled its debut line with South African contemporary fashion designer, Rich Mnisi.
The collection features a line-up of beautiful, bold pieces that celebrate Rich Mnisi’s Tsonga heritage with pieces that support a range of sports including running, cycling, swimming, and training.
Alongside these pinnacle performance pieces are statement streetwear looks featuring exaggerated silhouettes that seamlessly fuse style, colour and function. The drop is also rounded off with iconic adidas footwear lines and innovation including Superstar, UltraBOOST and Forum, which have been reborn with Rich’s signature prints via a series of design accents that feature throughout.
Rich Mnisi’s dedication to pushing the dial on the celebration of identity, intersects with adidas’ belief that through sport, they have the power to change lives. The result is a line that pushes the boundaries of sports style, all with self-expression at the heart. Pieces in the collection fuse bright, bold animal prints, vibrant clashing colours, and striking abstract patterns that come together to tell the exciting story of his roots. Each piece has been designed to be worn as a standout piece or accessorised and layered for a more individual and expressive look.
Reflecting Rich Mnisi’s vision for celebrating community, habitat, and homeland environments, hero styles and performance pieces have also been made in part with recycled materials and Parley Ocean Plastic, to help end plastic waste. The campaign features his close circle and the local community in South Africa, a line-up of inspirational figures who he believes use their identity to push culture forward.
“I am immensely proud to present this collection in collaboration with adidas, an iconic brand that I grew up seeing on People of Colour that were rewriting the arts. It has been a pleasure to bring my designs to classic pieces. We have created a bright, unique collection that reflects my love for the idea of community and heritage, individuality, and self-expression. Our aim was to create pieces that support life on and off the sports field.
The spirit of this collection celebrates our homeland, so the environment was an important aspect when looking at methods and materials used in the creation process. I am so pleased we’ve used adidas’ advanced technology and partly recycled materials.
I am truly excited for the world to see this collaboration come to life,” says Rich Mnisi.
The adidas x Rich Mnisi collection will be available from 25th February 2022 at adidas.co.za and adidas Originals and Performance stores, with prices ranging from R379 to R3599.
Check out some of our favourite pieces below:
