SONG FOR THE MUTE X ADIDAS 002
We don't often do 'big brand' stuff but this new collection is in a liminal space, somewhere between utopia and dystopia. Song for the Mute x adidas’ second collaborative collection is located within the duality of futurist ideals and ‘back-to-earth’ sentimentality.
The iconic adidas Campus footwear silhouette in black and beige serves as the cornerstone of the collection. A frayed raw-edged canvas upper, a volume-increasing thick rubber sole and ‘steam-punk’ inspired metallic eyelets allude to poignant nostalgia. The shoe exudes the sentiment of blurred bounds, the ‘in-between’, a feeling of stark juxtaposition.
Song for the Mute’s Creative Director Lyna Ty re-interprets heritage silhouettes with modernist fabrication and detailing throughout the apparel range that accompanies the footwear.
Windbreakers and shorts in emerald green and terrestrial brown, gradient t-shirts loaded with nostalgic sensibility, zip-up shirts and side zip pants in hyper-vibrant lime and subdued charcoal.
Garments are constructed from ‘wave’ and perforated fabrics alike, utilising patent zippers, rubber dipped cord details and adidas’ emblematic three- stripes in tonally contrasting textured tape, enlivening the inspirational touchstones.
Photographer Atsushi ‘Jima’ Nishijima – acclaimed for his candid photographs of actors on film sets – captures this intermediate, off-kilter energy within the accompanying campaign.
Training a documentary-like lens on the dichotomy that predicates both collection and the city that Jima calls home – New York – each image is a testament to the medians that arise when people’s lives cross.
Friends and relatives counterposed by street-cast individuals, couples strolling downtown streets seen next to Jima’s own daughter; kins gaze reconnecting after some time. Newly acquainted strangers converse, individuals find solace amongst chaos - all harbour an ineffable aura of character, all intuitively echo the coexistence that defines city life.
Stylist Stephen Mann enriches both Ty and Jima’s visions by utilising garments lifted from the subjects’ own wardrobes, enhancing wearers unique personas.
An individual carrying a bag of vivid bouquets wearing a smock, shirt and zip-open pants. The polish of a shirt and tie is counterposed by the casual ease of a three-stripe charcoal tracksuit. The childhood reminiscence of basketball shorts and high socks with gradient t-shirts. An ancillary light-heartedness is introduced via an empty silver canteen chair and video of footwear being juggled.
A sense of optimism within the urban landscape’s sea of grey.
Song for the Mute x adidas 002 will be available to purchase from next Friday 20 October at
