adidas Consortium EQT – a range which first launched in 1991, celebrates 25 Years of the EQT with a BAD-ASS new silhouette.

Delving deep into their history, adidas reveal an absolute intention of baring the beating heart of the brand. Stripping away the superfluous to provide everything that is essential and nothing that is not. The EQT builds design solely to meet the athletes’ needs. Performance, protection, comfort, truth and transparency would drive the marketing, not fashion or fads. South African Youth and Creative Culture couldn’t have been more ready to receive a thing.

“We called it Equipment because the word equipment is sort of a no bullsh*t word. You don’t have a piece of equipment to have fun with. You have a piece of equipment to do something with. ”
Peter Moore – Creative Director of the Original EQT

South African YC is fiercely independent, self-assured, and defiantly progressive. The embodiment of the youthful African is self-truth, something we call ‘owning-it’ and an innate knowing that ‘greatness is at our fingertips’. No fuss and no apologies.  We know what’s cool, who’s on top, and what it will take to get there.

“EQT brought the focus back to meaningful products. That’s what we loved about it; what it meant for the brand, for culture, and that moment in culture.”
Nic Galway – VP Global Design, adidas Originals

The 21st Century heralded the end of the cultures’ constant need for more, valuing only exactly what is needed.  Empowered by its heritage, adidas Originals felt the world was ready for another reminder to get back to the essentials.

Pivoting away from the adidas signature green colour scheme that defined past EQT releases, the new styles feature a new Turbo Red colour palette, paired predominantly with black. Turbo red was born infused with neon, designed to stand out in any crowd. The legacy of quality was carried into the now with premium materials, purposeful construction, and the adidas trefoil – marking EQT as one of the iconic Originals.

The Berlin EQT was developed in ‘91, giving us a glimpse into the future. At the same time, in Johannesburg, the first wave of born free South African’s were being born. Some of the country’s most exciting emerging creative talent form part of this generation – a community of creators that are looking to their past to re-imagine their future. We call them the Born Free Originals. Recognised for creating culture and not for a number of followers they have.

The images profiling the EQT were appropriately shot by filmmaker and photographer Imraan Christian, a bona fide Born Free Original. Internationally acclaimed for his powerful photography documenting the #FeesMustFall student profile movement in 2015/16.

The EQT ‘Our Future is Now’ visual content series is set in Johannesburg and features a collection of the city’s new wave of Born Free Originals. Together with adidas, the shoot uncovers everything that is essential in their lives, nothing that is not.

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